Chaos Magnet

Writing is more than typing, folks

I've mentioned that I'm looking into Internet Marketing, and one thing I've discovered is a whole slew of marketers who do audio rather than the written word. And so far, 50% of them have come right out and said, "I do audio because I hate to write." Well, that's fine, but a significant number of them would do well to at least organize their thoughts before they pick up the microphone. Just because you're speaking instead of typing doesn't mean you don't have to, oh, I don't know, look up the quotes you want to use before you start, maybe? I'm sorry, but stumbling over the quote and ending with "or something significant like that" just isn't persuasive to me.

(And, just to see if anybody notices, in some kind of weird self-referential twist, I'm also adding an audio version of this post.)

Why Star Wars works

I'll freely admit that I've been obsessed with Star Wars since I saw the first movie at the age of nine. I can tell you just about anything about it (as long as it involves the movies; unfortunately I haven't had time to keep up with the gazillion books, hard as I've tried). I find the Force a reasonable allegory for religion and faith. And I'm terrified that the last movie is going to suck.

And of course I'm not alone. This is a film that literally transformed not only filmmaking, but also an entire generation of kids who saw it. It made its way into popular culture in a way that has rarely, if ever, been seen.

Even George Lucas will tell you it's not even science fiction, it's space opera. If you look at the plot of that first film as an adult, it's almost embarrassingly simple. In fact, that's why those who didn't like it have such an easy time looking down their nose at it, and at those who love it.

So why was it such effective storytelling?

For my birthday, my wife got me the DVD set of the first Star Wars trilogy, and this week I've finally gotten a chance to sit down and watch it with the commentary. I've always known that Lucas was inspired by Japanese movies such as "The Seven Samurai", and that he had done a lot of research into Joseph Campbell's writings on heroes and such. But what I discovered is that not only had he done WAY more research than I'd thought, but he'd intentionally structured the story around these basic archetypes that have been in storytelling for thousands of years.

So what looks, on the surface, like a simple story is really tied to basic, deep-rooted psychological threads that most of us don't even know are pulling at us. That's why it was so deeply affecting for so many millions of people -- even though most didn't know why.

I'm sure that there are writers who can happen on something so profound without having a conscious understanding of what they're doing. But knowing precisely what you're going for makes it so much easier, and so much more effective.

My head is spinning thinking about it, and what this means for my own writing, both fiction and non-fiction.

Too dumb to realize they're too dumb

And in the "the more I know, the more I know I don't know" department, it appears that the opposite is true. A study in The Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, Unskilled and Unaware of It: How Difficulties in Recognizing One's Own Incompetence Lead to Inflated Self-Assessments indicates that the more incompetant the study participant, the more certain they were they were doing just fine:

Not only do these people reach erroneous conclusions and make unfortunate choices, but their incompetence robs them of the metacognitive ability to realize it. Across 4 studies, the authors found that participants scoring in the bottom quartile on tests of humor, grammar, and logic grossly overestimated their test performance and ability. Although their test scores put them in the 12th percentile, they estimated themselves to be in the 62nd. Several analyses linked this miscalibration to deficits in metacognitive skill, or the capacity to distinguish accuracy from error.

Quote of the day

"Most of the important things in the world have been accomplished by people who have kept on trying when there seemed to be no hope at all."

--Dale Carnegie

The face of Alzheimer's

Been pretty busy lately, which is, frankly, par for the course, but it's been a little bit worse than usual lately. My father-in-law, Ray, lives with us, and in addition to being a double amputee (half his left foot, right leg below the knee) and diabetes, he's also in the final stages of Alzheimer's disease. We made the mistake of watching a documentary on the disease, so we know that eventually, he'll just get to the point where he's catatonic, and then he'll stop breathing.

But right now, aside from swallowing difficulties -- everything he eats or drinks has to be the consistency of honey -- our big problem is dementia. Dementia can be simple, such as forgetting where he is at that moment, or that we've asked him to do something (or not do something, like take his diaper off) but sometimes it's more serious.

A few weeks ago, I had a big problem because he wouldn't let me change his diaper because of the other five people in the room. No, there was nobody there but me and him. So I asked the "other people" to leave, and that was fine, except for the other two, who were looking down at him through the ceiling. I asked them to stop, and he was satisfied with that, but yesterday we had an even bigger problem.

To keep him from falling out of bed, and to assist him in sitting up (which has become, as of late, a real challenge) we got him a hospital bed. Full rails and everything. Day before yesterday, I came in in the morning and he was once again on the floor. As far as I can tell, he swung himself around so that he was crosswise at the top of the bed, then slid out through the 18 inches or so between the end of the rail and the head of the bed.

After determining that he was not hurt -- he scraped and bruised his backside a little, but nothing serious -- I asked him why.

"Because the other guy was sleeping in the bed, and I didn't think I should have to share."

Later in the day he spiked a fever, and we brought him back to the hospital for the second time in 8 days. We're still waiting for test results to find out why.

Polar Express -- in 3D IMAX

That's right, folks, 3D IMAX is here. We took the kids to see The Polar Express and it was absolutely astounding. With polarized glasses (no pun intended) and manipulation of the film, you really did feel like you were in the film. The screen fills your entire field of vision (if you have enough sense to sit relatively close to the front) and buildings and objects just popped out in front of you.

Of course the fact that it was rendered on the computer probably simplified the process of generating the 3D version, but my goodness, it was incredible.

The film itself was good, and fun, and the kids loved it, but I personally was astounded by the view.

Unfortunately, it's probably too late in the process, since the live-action's already been shot, but what I wouldn't give to see Revenge of the Sith this way. I saw Attack of the Clones in IMAX, and that was fantastic enough. To add 3D, well ...

The blog is dead; long live the blog

The Politburo Diktat has an interesting look at The Post-Election Blogosphere Purge, talking about how prominent bloggers are regrouping and even resigning after the election. Basically blogs have been running on political discussion for a while, so what do bloggers talk about?

We'll find something. Surely, we'll see more "cat blogging", a term which I find particularly amusing, but I also see the shakeout coming as we see splits into two camps: professionals and hobbyists. There will always be those who straddle the fence, of course, but as bloggers come into their own as news sources (and journalists) this will be an interesting time to watch.

Lessons still to learn about patriotism

AJ Kim points out this musings of a social architect: Timely Quote. Oh, if only there was a way to beam it into people's brains.

Sigh.

Mainstream media finally picks it up

Finally, a mainstream journalist, Keith Olbermann, picks up the voting irregularities story. Too many to mention, and too depressing to list.

A bit of Star Wars trivia

All this thinking about Star Wars has reminded me about a little interesting historical footnote. After the release of Return of the Jedi, I was at a convention and picked up a little ditty called STAR WARS III: FALL OF THE REPUBLIC by John L Flynn. Purported to be a story treatment for what was then expected to be the next movie, it is, of course, completely bogus, and I think I really even knew that at the time. But it's the reason I have to keep reminding myself that the capital of the Republic is called Coruscant, and not Jhantor. And just to prove that as the eBay commercials say, nothing is ever lost, nothing is ever forgotten, sure enough it's now online.

Somehow that just makes me feel good.

Things George Lucas Has To Remember

A year or two ago I posted Things George Lucas has to remember to The Vanguard Science Fiction Report. Basically, the Revenge Of The Sith is George's last chance to clear up any inconsistencies that have crept into the saga. For example, considering that Anakin has BEEN there and is FROM there, wouldn't Tatooine in general, and the Lars farm in particular, be the worst possible place to hide a baby Luke Skywalker?

Then there's the issue of Obi Wan telling Luke that Owen was HIS (meaning Obi Wan's) brother. But unless I miss my guess, that didn't actually happen on screen, and was instead mentioned in a novelization or the comic book or something, so it doesn't count. Years ago I spoke to Lynne Hale, in charge of merchandising over at Lucasfilm, about inconsistencies in the books and things that contradicted the movies. She basically said that George Lucas reserves the right to do whatever he wants in the films. They'll try to keep things consistent, but if the movie needs to do "A" and the books say that "B" happened, the movies win. Period.

But still, I'm really, really worried about this. I've been obsessed with this series since I was nine years old. I'm just starting to recover from the midichlorians nonsense. If we don't get some consistency I'm going to be crushed.

Actually, I don't care what they do, as long as they make sure not to screw up one thing: Anakin's lightsaber. Given the way things are going, it's highly unlikely that Anakin is going to give it to Obi Wan and say, "Give this to my son, when he's old enough." I can deal with that, as long as it's acknowledged. If he says to Amidala, "Hey, don't worry, I'll give him a saber when he's old enough and tell him it came from his father," I'll be fine with that. No problem. We've established that Kenobi doesn't always tell the whole truth and nothing but the truth. I just don't want that particular issue glossed over.

I mean, what do you want to see wrapped up definitively?

Nader calls for recount

Well it's about damn time somebody did. Yes, John Kerry, that means you.

Nader calls for recount in Ohio, NH

Area code lookup

Not earthshaking, but if you work with people all over G-d's green acre, like I do, occasionally you need to find out where the flyin' flip they are so you don't call them at 5am local time. Verizon's got an Area Code Lookup that not only tells you where a particular area code is located, but what cities use it and, more importantly, the current local time.

Unacceptable symbols

My son's been messing with my computer again, and as part of my cleanup procedure I always check Windows Update. Today I find just one Critical Update, but it just amused the heck out of me: Remove unacceptable symbols from the Bookshelf Symbol 7 font.

Unacceptable symbols? I ran through it in Word and didn't see anything objectionable, unless you want to consider "h" as a double-headed sperm. Maybe the Oriental characters mean something nasty.

But still, a "critical" update for this?

Whatever.

How to create a project plan

I don't often point to Microsoft, but here's a quick guide telling you how to Create a Project plan in 5 easy steps. Most of it may seem obvious, but I've been a bit surprised lately at how many people have trouble with it.

Solar System Simulator

Check out this Solar System Simulator from NASA and the Jet Propulsion Laboratory. Get the view of planets and moons in our solar system from other planets and moons in our solar system on a particular day at a particular time. Decide how big you want it to be, add constellation and orbit lines, and so on.

Very cool.

Feedback on "How to Write a Tutorial"

Well, I was a little nervous about reactions to the How to Write an Effective Tutorial presentation I gave a couple of weeks ago, but according to the feedback it seems to have gone pretty well. Oh, and it'd have to be a soda; I don't drink beer. Sorry.

Free states vs. Slave states

Here's an interesting little map of election results. And as we begin to have enough numbers to analyze, the inevitable musing about whether the election was hacked begins.

Whatever you say, say nothing

I have strong opinions, but fortunately, none of them involve violence. But I'm always careful about what I say when it comes to politics, even though I'm not some wacko who's going to take a gun over to the White House.

See, now there I was tempted to add "no matter how tempting it may be," but even though it's not tempting and it's just a joke, I worry about saying it, because we've learned from years of email misunderstandings that when people can't see your facial expressions, they tend to misinterpret what you're saying. And I don't want anyone to think I would take a gun over to the White House. I wouldn't. (See, now there I was going to make another smart-ass remark, but I won't.)

Why bring it up? 'Cause apparently a joke on LiveJournal has brought the Secret Service to the author's house. No need to panic, she said they were very nice, and realized right away she wasn't a threat, and they even laughed along with her.

But she pointed out that now she has an FBI file. That means, in today's climate, that she could, conceivably, be put on the "no fly" list. Because of a joke.

And that's scary.

Big Brother moves to RFID

It was only a matter of time before we saw IDs scannable surreptitiously, and from a distance. Looks like I ought to hurry up and get my passport before the new changes take effect.

Is television eating itself?

I just heard a commercial for "My Big Fat Obnoxious Boss". Twelve ivy-league graduates compete in an "Apprentice"-like competition, but like "My Big Fat Obnoxious Fiance" the whole thing is a joke; the "boss" is an actor. Last night I watched "FilmFakers" in which everybody was in on the joke except the three unknown actors cast in what was probably the worst movie never made. Has reality-tv exhausted itself to the point where it has to resort to self-parody already?

I hope so.

Electing to leave

For those who just can't live with the results, check out Electing to Leave, a (somewhat humorous) guide to renouncing (or rather, replacing) your American citizenship. One hint: just burning your passport won't do it.

How exit polls work

My wife is still mumbling about how she doesn't understand why results don't match the exit polls. (She also says "Nobody I know says they voted for Bush. How could he have won?" I won't touch that one.)

Anyway, Mystery Pollster has a terrific explanation of how exit polls work. It's brutally honest about what's good about them and why they're pretty well useless in a state like Florida or Ohio.