November 3, 2009
It’s that time of year again: NaNoWriMo 2009
Forget the cold winds and gray skies; nothing quite says November like the frantic scrambling of thousands of amateur (and maybe a few professional) writers across the globe as they participate in terrifying challenge of National Novel Writing Month.
Never heard of it? Here’s all you need to know: crazy people (like me) spend from midnight on Nov. 1 to midnight on Nov. 31 trying to write a 175-page novel. That’s 50,000 words in one month, averaging at about 1,666 words a day. There’s no prize if you win except the satisfaction that your tears, sweat and maybe a little bit of blood went into producing those 50,000 words.
The beauty of NaNoWriMo is that the writing doesn’t have to be good; it just has to be fast. The idea behind NaNoWriMo is get writers writing without worrying about little things that bog them like editing or spelling mistakes – editing is what December is for, after all. Often times a writer gets so caught up in trying to make every single word perfect that they forget to focus on getting their story out, and it takes them ages to keep on writing.
For some, writing the 50,000 words is a piece of cake – I’ve already seen people on the NaNoWriMo Forums that have 31,000 words and it’s not even the end of day three yet! But for others, even hitting that daily word count goal is like pulling teeth. I’m somewhere in the middle. I currently have 3,385 words, and I’ll need 5,000 by the end of the day to make the daily word goal. Getting the word count usually isn’t hard for me, but getting my inner editor to shut up so I can write new words instead editing the last thousand or so is another challenge completely.
This will be my second year participating for NaNoWriMo. I participated last year, and got about 23,000 words before I decided I hated my story and I quit. I’m hoping to do a little better or at least cross the finish line this year. One of my goals in life is to complete NaNoWriMo at least once because it’s such an interesting challenge.
So if you haven’t signed up this year, it’s not too late to do so! Head on over to NaNoWriMo.org and join in the insanity!
October 7, 2009
Heroes and its Destruction of its Characters’ Lives
Last week, the fourth season of the NBC drama Heroes premiered. I love this show, have watched it since the first season, and will probably stick by it until it runs its course. However, I can’t overlook the major destruction the show is working in the lives of its characters. It started with the end of last season when they cut down the original cast still further with the death of Nathan Petrelli, but then brought him back by making Sylar believe he was Nathan. There’s two characters whose lives are destroyed, one permanently, but by the looks of things, Sylar is back on track to what he calls a life. Then there’s Matt Parkman, the one who did the Nathan/Sylar switch and who is now being kept constant company by Sylar, whom Matt can’t seem to help but scream at in front of people. Noah Bennet is working through the end of his marriage and is currently living in an apartment alone, eating cereal for supper. Peter Petrelli isn’t doing much better. Sure, he’s happy working three shifts as a New York paramedic alone, but the furniture in his apartment consists of a bed, a cork board, and a phone that sits on the floor. Congrats writers, you’ve managed to make one of the most likeable heroes into a self denying, family dissing workaholic. Then there’s Claire Bennet, for whom things seem to be going pretty good, but the show never lets anything good happen to her. She’s been through three boys in the last three seasons, and none of them have stuck around. Her friend, Gretchen, won’t stick around very long either if she follows precedent.
While I acknowledge the need for a TV show to keep watchers’ interest, completely destroying the characters and annihilating everything about them doesn’t make me want to watch more. It makes me sick watching Parkman yell at Sylar and Peter being manipulated for at least the thrid time. Plus, these last two shows have been rather slow. They better get the plot moving soon and have the characters get their heads out of the clouds.
September 17, 2009
The Kickback makes it to RollingStone.com
Former local band The Kickback has been mentioned in the Sept. 17 Hype Monitor section of RollingStone.com:
The Band: The Kickback
The Buzz: High drama Chicago-based rock band (with at least one very rabid fan) conjures the very best parts of the Veils and the Walkmen and the Killers, writing lean, nervy songs that snarl and snap. Guitarist Billy Yost has a marvelously agonized voice and he wrenches notes from his larynx, hurling himself against the songs’ propulsive rhythms.
Listen If: You’ve got a thing for high drama, or you like songs that move fast and singers that collapse faster.
Key Track: The sneering “Roman Regret,” a song boasting a guitar line that snaps and crackles like a cut electrical wire and Yost at his worked-up, Pentecostal best.
For more information on The Kickback, check out this The Volante article from Fall 2008.
September 15, 2009
Kayne West is a meme!
In case you were avoiding contact with anything on the Internet or TV the past two days, you might’ve missed Kayne West interrupting Taylor Swift’s acceptance speech during the VMAs Sunday night. While initial viewing of said video will cause a strong case of secondhand embarrassment and righteous anger in regard to Mr. West, the Internet has been quick to turn his rude behavior into a hilarious new meme.
Whether its subbing Kayne’s outburst for Rep. Joe Wilson’s during President Obama’s speech last Wednesday:
Or photoshopping Kayne into other speeches, important historical moments, or moments in cinema:
The denizens of the Internet are bringing the lulz at Kayne’s expense.
RIP Patrick Swayze
Actor Patrick Swayze, known for his iconic roles in “Dirty Dancing” and “Ghost,” has passed away at 57. Swayze was diagnosed with pancreatic cancer in 2008, and according to his publicist, he died at home with his family by his side.
February 1, 2009
Super Bowl Teaser Spots: Part Two
Here’s part two of the post on the Super Bowl teaser spots. Please see the first post for trailers of G.I. Joe, Transformers 2 and Star Trek.
Land of the Lost
My childhood is crying in despair right about now. It could be entertaining, but I guess I was expecting a bit more than just Will Ferrell doing his usual routine with dinosaurs involved.
Up
Oh, Pixar. You certainly know how to come up with some interesting concepts for animated features. Looks good and visually stunning, but I think I need another trailer to convince to go see this one.
Fast and the Furious 4
Does this even need a comment? The action scene at the end of the spot had me rolling my eyes instead of squealing about the special effects.
Year One
Hilarious. I hadn’t heard anything about this movie before I saw this spot, but I definitely want to go see it now.
Super Bowl Teaser Spots: Part One
The Super Bowl teaser spots are now online – including the first Transformers 2: Revenge of the Fallen trailer, which Michael Bay said wasn’t supposed to go up online until next Friday, as well as ads for Pixar’s Up and – I know everyone is chomping at the bit for this one – Fast and the Furious 4.
G.I. Joe: Rise of the Cobra
Looks interesting enough and it has all the qualifications for a summer movie flick, but it’s not high on my must-see list. Maybe once more commericals come out and I get more of a feel of the plot, it’ll start looking more appealing. The Eiffel Tower effect looked amazing though.
Transformers 2: Revenge of the Fallen
…
I will get back to you as soon as I pick my jaw up off the floor. Transformers 2 is at the top of my “Must-See-in-Theatres” list and just think: if this is 31 seconds of complete and unending awesome, what’s the rest of the movie going to be like?
(Answer: Plenty of crass humor, explosions, lots of gratuitous shots of Megan Fox, slow motion heroic shots of the military, explosions, cool cars, giant robot fight sequences, oh and did I mention explosions? This is Michael Bay we’re talking about, after all.)
Star Trek
Many of the shots are from one of the earlier trailers, but there’s some new footage in there, including what looks like an attack scene on San Francisco and a cool sky diving scene.
Please see the second post for the trailers of Up, Land of the Lost, Year One and Fast and the Furious 4.
So what do you think? What Super Bowl teaser spots have you wishing it was summer movie season already? Which ones have you shaking your head and mourning the loss of all good things in the world? Share your thoughts below.
Edit: It appears the Transformers 2 trailer may be getting yanked from YouTube. My original link disappeared shortly after this post and I’ve put a second one in place. If it doesn’t show up, that’s probably why and you might have to go hunt down a version to see it for yourself.
January 5, 2009
Help Wanted!
The Verve section of The Volante is looking for reviewers and columnists for the 2009 spring semester! We’d like to see some fresh faces in our section, so if you think you’re cut out to be a
- book, video game or movie reviewer
- humor columnist
- relationship columnist
Please send a 250 to 300 word sample of your column/review to the Verve editor Jessica Kokesh at Jessica.L.Kokesh@usd.edu as soon as possible. Thank you!
November 30, 2008
Write or Die
Can’t find the inspiration to write that 10-page paper due at the end of the semester? Having trouble getting the words out for any writing project? Or maybe you just can’t sit down and write for more than five minutes at a time without a deadline looming over your head?
Write or Die, developed by Dr. Wicked, is a new, effective and free web application that “encourages writing by punishing the tendency to avoid writing.” Once you start typing in the box, you’re allowed a brief grace period but if you don’t keep typing, there’s consequences – varying in severity from an annoying pop-up box to the application deleting your words one by one.
As you can see, you can set both a word count goal and the time limit in which you want to achieve that goal. I’ve written upwards of 500 words in 20 minutes using this application – I’d recommend Normal mode for someone who’s used to web browsing as they write as Kamikaze’s consequences can be quite alarming (and annoying) during the first use.
The application does not offer spell or grammar check as it is aimed to seperate the writing and editing process as much as possible. Version 2.0 also offers the option to copy your text to the clipboard in case you navigate away from the page accidentally, a victory bell when you reach your goal, and a pause button – it only works once, so be judicious when you use it!
It’s a fun application and I highly recommend it to anyone writing on a deadline.
November 19, 2008
Plain White T’s concert photos
I attended the Plain White T’s show at the Sioux Empire Fairgrounds in Sioux Falls yesterday, and here’s a couple photos of the Plain White T’s and their opening act, Meg & Dia.
The PWT’s played songs from their latest album “Big Bad World,” including “Sunshine” and “1, 2, 3, 4.” They closed the show with “Hate (I Really Don’t Like You)” and came back for an encore of their famous hit, “Hey There Delilah” which had the whole crowd singing.
Dia from Meg & Dia.
Meg & Dia
Plain White T’s lead singer Tom Higgenson came out to perform a duet with Meg & Dia titled “Bored of Your Love” to a live audience for the first time.
