This summer I got rid of my cable so I’d watch less TV. Now I have to see what Netflix has to offer or watch something online. So I’m not wasting my time watching garbage marathons any more.

Then I got a laptop so I could move around freely to write. No longer tied to the desk! But then I couldn’t write. I sat in the living room with all this great light and no TV channel surfing distraction and just stared at a blank screen. I ended up trying to write at the desk in the corner of my bedroom again but man, that felt confining. And then I started to pace. Thus has been my summer. Bleh.

So while I wasn’t busy trying to make aesthetic changes (pretty bobbles and the right pencil cup) to my writing environment per se, I was locking myself into where to write. At home.

Some of that changed with the start of a writing group. I have to write away from home then. But a real change came when my upstairs neighbor sounded like he was stomping on my head with combat boots. Oy! I had to get away. I took the laptop outside to a park/playground. I sat at a rickety picnic table (pictured). Behind me a basket ball game went on. At another table kids talked and one kid bounced another basket ball. It was noisy but expected noise, thus white noise really. And I was finally able to write.

The dumb thing is that I ignored that and have been trying to write in my living room again. Yep, I’m an idiot.

The beauty of the laptop is the travel it allows us and really, I need to embrace that more. I mean, duh, wasn’t that why I got said laptop anyway? I will have to write more in parks and playgrounds. I may even start checking out some libraries since that sounds fabulous too. I think the variety of scenery will do me some good. It’ll also help with being less isolated since that makes me stir crazy at times too.

What about you? Where do you write?

Anyway, I liked this one. Visually pretty and I always love a nod to the type of story the secret reveals:

The Damage Done is a western short by Rainfall Films. It premiered at the 2010 DVX WESTFEST, where it won 1st Place.

A hired gun is tasked by the local sheriff to apprehend a bank robber in a hostile area of 1890 New Mexico. The dangerous assignment is complicated by a personal secret which the gunman is trying to protect.

The Damage Done from Rainfall Films on Vimeo.

And strangely now I miss the gruesomeness of Deadwood. This is high tea tame in comparison.

“Descendants” is a 14 minute animated short about the wish of attaining the unattainable and about the fact that something good can evolve from something evil.

The two main characters are flowers (voiced by Whoopi Goldberg and Christy Scott Cashman) who grow on the edge of a clearing next to one another. One is old and jaded by a mysterious history – the other one still young, vivid and curious. Destiny has brought these two together and it seems as if they would exist without possibility for change, until one day a visitor to the clearing brings something unexpected to their lives.

Descendants from Goro Fujita on Vimeo.

For info on the making of Descendants >>

(via SF Signal)

The track is “Time” from the Inception soundtrack.
Hans Zimmer (piano) and Johnny Marr (guitar).

Full performance can be seen here:

The video took a while to load so heads it that it might do so for you too. The performance starts at about 8 or so minutes in (after the red carpet event). It’s well worth the wait. Awesome indeed! And the soundtrack itself is pretty amazing. I, of course, had to download it today and have been listening to it on repeat. (Kinda made things interesting when I was trying to write a scene with a bored character and I’m hearing all these intense sounds that so don’t fit with that scene. Made me want to make the character get up and do something a bit more kick ass. Hah!)

The project looks too daunting a task for me, but here’s someone who built it in 72 hours across 3 weeks. He recorded a time lapse of the construction, which is pretty awesome to see:

Howl’s Moving Castle from Ben Millett on Vimeo.

If you’d like to give it a try yourself, you can download the papercraft here.

(via Cubeecraft)

They’ve altered it from the original as seen on Discovery’s Animal Oddities blog, but their added text makes it funnier–and a little easier to understand.

Discovery’s blog explained what’s going on with the owl:

You might not know that small owl species are sometimes on the menu for larger owl species.  When faced with the barn owl, which is only slightly larger than itself, the Transformer owl puffs itself up to look as big as possible in an effort to scare the barn owl away.  When faced with the second, much larger owl, however, it does the exact opposite.  By elongating its body, flattening its feathers and squinting its eyes, this little owl mimics a dead branch in the hopes of camouflaging itself from the larger bird.  It’s a pretty amazing and odd-looking adaption, wouldn’t you agree?

This little owl looks so much more like a mini Dracula than a branch!

Sky Sailing’s (or rather Owl City’s)  website

Zaboo convinces Codex to resume game play by transporting them to a world of inspiring song and dance. Vibrant costumes and a large cast of extras give it an over-the-top look and feel.

(via Watch the Guild)

(via ONTD’s Supernatural Party)

Yeah, yeah, so the weekend has been nothing but watching web series (or movies in Ink‘s case). I know. I’m really damn tired. Anyway, here’s another that’s visually fantastic! It’s called Chadam:

Chadam lives as the “chosen one” in the hyper-stylized and exaggerated metropolitan island city of Vulture. His power of imagination is strong enough to physically change his environment and, therefore, his world … to save it from evil. The series finds Chadam in a place of refuge where he and others have retreated to plan their attack against a serial killer known as Viceroy. Chadam is a 3D animated web series from artist Alex Pardee and produced by Jace Hall.

All ten episodes are available to watch online now. Here’s the first one:

(via io9)

(via LXD blog)

Seems to be the day for watching stuff on Hulu. I saw something about The LXD (The Legion of Extraordinary Dancers) on io9 last week but didn’t get a chance to read the interview with Jon M. Chu or watch any of it until now. It’s awesome! It’s a blend of superhero + dance and a lot of fun. The superpowers stem from dance actually. Visually stunning indeed. The first five episodes are up on Hulu now.

Here’s the first episode:

But my favorite to date is episode 3: Robot Lovestory, which introduces the character Sp3cimen.

Oh, and here’s another interview with Jon M. Chu on Hulu.

Enjoy!

Anyway, Ink is fantastic. Really shows well what can be done with a great story even on a small budget. The story holds its own without all the Hollywood razzle dazzle. Here’s the description:

As the light fades and the city goes to sleep, two forces emerge. They are invisible except for the power they exert over us in our sleep, battling for our souls through dreams.

And here’s an interview with the creators.

Enjoy!:

My copy of this just arrived this morning. Of course I had pause for a story time moment so I could read it.  All I can say is, Mr. Rothfuss, you are one strange twisted dude. And of course, I loved the story and the artwork. I don’t think I can say anything about it without giving away stuff. But I will add this, pay attention to the artwork as you read. There. That’s it. Enjoy.

Here’s the blurb from Subterranean Press’ site:

This is not a book for children.

It looks like a children’s book. It has pictures. It has a saccharine-sweet title. The main characters are a little girl and her teddy bear. But all of that is just protective coloration. The truth is, this is a book for adults with a dark sense of humor and an appreciation of old-school faerie tales.

There are three separate endings to the book. Depending on where you stop, you are left with an entirely different story. One ending is sweet, another is horrible. The last one is the true ending, the one with teeth in it.

The Adventures of the Princess and Mr. Whiffle is a dark twist on the classic children’s picture-book. I think of it as Calvin and Hobbes meets Coraline, with some Edward Gorey mixed in.

Simply said: This is not a book for children.

And you can read more about the book on Rothfuss’ blog.

Space Cadets and Starship Troopers

By Stacy Hague-Hill, Your Captain for this Journey

Sometimes, a topic comes along that’s just too big for one article.

In August, Tor will be releasing an all-new, first-ever authorized biography of a towering figure in the history of the genre: Robert A. Heinlein.

So, as our own little celebration of the man and his works, we thought it would be fun to find out just how much of an impact Heinlein’s stories and novels had on a number of our—and your—favorite sf writers.  We asked them a simple question—what’s your favorite Heinlein novel?

We’ll be posting their answers once a week as we build toward publication of the biography, and I hope all of you will jump in and let us know if you have any favorites, too.

But enough about us.  What’s your favorite Robert A. Heinlein novel, David Brin?

(via Tor/Forge’s blog)