Category: Uncategorized Page 57 of 122

Calling On The Tech-Savviness Of You Good People

On 02/11/2008

Evening, all. I have two quick techie questions which I’d appreciate assistance with…

1. Does anyone know where I can get hold of the Russell Brand Radio 2 show as broadcast on Saturday 25 October? This isn’t the show with the Andrew Sachs calls, it’s the one after it, in which he alludes to the Daily Mail’s nazi-sympathising past whilst apologising to Sachs, and strangely enough the BBC didn’t release it as a podcast (and indeed they’ve removed all the old shows from iTunes and the show-related page from their website). As I used to enjoy listening to the podcasts, I feel I’d like to hear the final one by way of closure, so any links to appropriate locations would be very gratefully appreciated.

2. On a slightly more involved note, could anyone advise me how to set my ‘From’ address in Outlook 2007? I’ve got a number of e-mail addresses which feed into the programme, and I want to set it so that it shows a particular e-mail address as it goes out, and not the slightly less elegant-looking one which is the default setting. I can do it manually, but if there’s a way to do it automatically, that would be handy.

If you know the answer to both or either of the above, you’re smarter than I am, so if you want to share the wisdom around, please use the Comment facility, or you can e-mail me at ohJohnyoureallyarealuddite(at)johnsoanes.co.uk.

Thanks!

National Novel Writing Month 2008

By John

On 01/11/2008

In Link, Pictures, Uncategorized, Writing

I’ve written about National Novel Writing Month here before, and crikey o’blimey if November hasn’t come round again.

For those of you who haven’t heard of it, the basic idea is – yes – that you write an entire novel in a month; for the purposes of NaNoWriMo (as it’s known), a novel is anything upwards of 50,000 words, which works out at about 1500 words a day.

I’ve never really done it properly – I usually cheat and use it as a springboard to get on with a novel I’m already working on, and even that with mixed results – but I think it sounds like a great way to just get the ever-problematic first draft done, and there are lots of people around the globe doing it at the same time, which removes the isolation that often comes with writing.

It’s based in the USA, but it’s more International than National, with groups meeting up for ‘write-ins’ all over the place (there were definitely meetups here in London last year, for example).

So, if you fancy taking up the challenge, click on the link above to find out more – it costs nothing to participate, and all you need is something to write on/with and a willingness to be honest about your wordcount. I won’t be doing it as I have non-novel writing (there’s an ambiguous turn of phrase) to get on with, but if you do join in, let me know how it went – I know Laura‘s taking part, but are there any other takers?

NaNoWriMo runs until the end of November, so (glances at watch) you’ve only lost a minute so far (and we could attribute that to the time taken to read this post, right?)…

This Is Halloween, This Is Halloween, Pumpkins Scream In The Dead Of Night…*

By John

On 31/10/2008

In Link, Uncategorized

Well, outside my window the day is starting to turn to night, as as the light curdles and turns to dark here in London, it feels about the right time for a Halloween-related post.

I actually want to share something quite startling with you, an image which may well make some of you declare “well, that’s just sick“, and turn away from your screen with your hand over your mouth. I’m not looking to shock you for sheer effect, but I think that this is one of the few days of the year when we take a particular pleasure in being frightened. As Clive Barker once wrote, “there is no delight the equal of dread”.

Given that this week’s posts have been quite heavy on the text and links and slightly lighter on the images, I wanted to post this particular picture on the blog, but it did occur to me that it could be rather off-putting for the more sensitive, so – against my initial impulse – I’ve decided to post a link to it, rather than run the risk of someone coming across it by accident and then complaining that it was presented without warning.

Anyway, enough of my explanations, let’s see if we can’t get on with the item in question – an image which I find repulsive at first sight, and yet there’s something vaguely hypnotic about it; as if I’ve made the mistake of looking at Dracula’s eyes, somehow I… just… can’t… seem… to… look…away…

Ready? All right, then. Brace yourself, for the horror of which I speak lurks but a mouseclick away. Tremble, mortals, for the terror is here…

Hey, I did warn you.

*With an admiring tip of the hat to Mr Danny Elfman.

Creative Screenwriting

By John

On 31/10/2008

In Link, Uncategorized, Writing

I wish I could claim that this post was going to live up to the promise of its title, and tell you absolutely everything you could ever need to know about screenwriting in a creative fashion, but brace yourself: it’s more of a pointer towards a site which not only rejoices under the above name, but which also offers a number of freebies of interest if you’re a writer.

Creative Screenwriting is a magazine, based in the USA, but sold in various locations around the globe, but if you can’t find a copy near you, you can still benefit from it, particularly in the following two ways…

Firstly, there’s a free weekly newsletter which you can subscribe to here. It tends to focus on the content of the current issue, but it also has the ‘headlines’ of writing-related news, and links to issues of interest. Certainly worth giving it a quick skim every week to see if anything in there catches your eye, I feel.

Secondly – and arguably more usefully – the magazine also issues regular podcasts, featuring interviews with a number of well-known writers. Specific ones I’ve enjoyed this week have been Q&As with the writers of Hot Fuzz, Zodiac and the Dark Knight, and I’m looking forward to the fruits of further rummages through the archive. You can find them at the magazine’s blog page, which is here.

On the basis of the material mentioned above, I fully intend to pick up a copy of the actual real-world magazine as soon as I find it, but of course it could well be that you good people already know all about it, and the above is very much a case of teaching one of your parents’ parents to produce a vacuum on the external surface of an unfertilised fowl ovum.

So, if the above is old news, then I apologise – but if not, well, then, I suggest you take a clicky-look!

The Inevitable Link About That News Story

By John

On 31/10/2008

In Link, Uncategorized

To no-one’s complete surprise, one of the BBC’s most popular stars has announced he will stand down following allegations of misuse of telephone equipment.

Full story here.

Better Than Burning Them, That’s For Sure

By John

On 31/10/2008

In Link, Uncategorized

If you – like me – have what might be classified by some people as ‘too many books’, and you hate the idea of throwing them out, you might find some alternative uses for them here…

Strangely attractive, I feel, though they don’t go so well with a comfy chair and a cup of tea.

The Scarlet Letter

By John

On 30/10/2008

In Link, Uncategorized

Apologies if you’ve seen this before – but you may well join me in feeling that the oddest news story to come out of the US Elections is this one.

To my mind, the main clue that she made it all up was, of course, the fact it was the wrong way round… does it make anyone else think of Mr Finch’s case-winning argument in To Kill A Mockingbird?

Clickety Click, Extra Quick

By John

On 29/10/2008

In Link, Uncategorized, Writing

Click here before the end of the day to download Russell T Davies and Benjamin Cook talking about their joint work ‘Doctor Who – The Writer’s Tale’. As you may well know, this is a massive tome dealing with RTD’s work on the most recent series of Who, and this is an interesting talk about it. Simon Mayo hosts, and my opinion of him went up a bit on listening to this, as he asks some decent questions.

But be swift – this is the last of the seven days when the podcast’s available!

REVIEW: ‘Dreams on Spec’

By John

On 28/10/2008

In Link, Pictures, Review, Uncategorized, Writing

Dreams on Spec is a 2007 documentary which follows three writers as they work on spec film scripts.

The three writers – David, Joe and Deborah – are at different stages; David works at a talent agency and has sold one of his scripts, Joe’s been working on a script for a number of years whilst day-trading and looking after his autistic daughter, and Deborah used to work for a creative agency and is now trying to find funding to film her first script. As well as being at different stages in their careers, their screenplays are on wildly diverse themes – David’s is a modern take on the slasher film, Joe’s written a coming of age piece, and Deborah’s film is described as a ‘gory commitment comedy’.

We don’t get to learn too much about the content of their scripts, but the focus of the film is more on their attitudes and perseverence; David’s concerned about losing control of the script as it goes into production, Joe’s meetings with a script advisor suggest it’s almost ready to be sent out, and Deborah is trying to pay the bills whilst hoping that money’s forthcoming to make her film. Intercut with their three tales are short ‘talking head’ spots with established screenwriters like Nora Ephron, Carrie Fisher and Ed Solomon, all of whom talk in a realistic way about the nature of working in the film industry, and the ways they’ve been treated by studios in the past.

The film’s about 90 minutes long (plus an extra 30 minutes of material featuring the established writers), but I found it seemed much shorter than that, as it was very engaging; it’s an interesting insight into the often mundane reality of writing (that is: re-writing, and re-writing, and so on), interspersed with some very amusing insights. The three writers were well presented – for example, it’s hard not to feel for Joe when he asks his wife to read his latest draft, and she sharply replies that she’s already read several drafts for him.

The direction, editing, and general film-making on this documentary are pretty much perfect – by which I mean that it’s as good as invisible; whilst it’s very professionally made, there are no flashy or obtrusive directorial tricks, and so it just gets on with telling the story – and it’s a story which, if you’re interested in writing, is an interesting one. In a way, the film could be seen as a bit of a litmus test to establish whether writing’s for you – given the stated unlikelihood of succeeding (it’s likened to the chances of winning the lottery), the film makes one either feel that there’s little point in applying pen to paper (or finger to keyboard), or rather stirs the feeling that trying harder is the way to go (you can probably guess which camp I fell into).

I don’t know if this film has been shown on UK TV (More4 or BBC4 seem the most likely channels for a broadcast of it), but it’s available to buy on R1 DVD, and I certainly recommend it – if nothing else, it’s nice to see that there are people in the same boat as you are. You can buy the DVD from the official website, or from Amazon, and I think it’s well worth watching.

Numbers Which May Or May Not Be Relevant To The Current Fuss About Brand And Ross’s Phone Messages To Andrew Sachs

By John

On 28/10/2008

In Number Crunching, Uncategorized

(Details of the fuss here )

– The age of Mr Sachs (78)
– Number of complaints received before press coverage (2)
– Number of complaints received after the Daily Mail covered the story (4700)
– Number of days which it took for the Mail to cover the story (8)
– Number of semi-dressed pictures of Andrew Sachs’s granddaughter in the Daily Mail coverage of the story (5)
– The salaries of Ross and Brand (seven figures and six figures respectively)
– Number of answerphone messages left (4)
– Number of people involved who left Germany in 1938 because of Nazi persecution of Jews (1)
– Number of newspapers involved who supported the Blackshirts and Nazis between 1934 and 1939 (1)
– Number of comedians whose apologies referred to Daily Mail support for Nazis (1)
– Number of uses of phrase ‘full transcript’ to describe an edited version of the messages (1)
– Number of times I laughed whilst listening to the podcast, prior to press coverage (>1)
– Probability as a percentage that there are more than two possible opinions to hold on this matter (>50)