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[jetpack_monkey_ljarchive]

Bullet points - very classy. Once again, the insurmountable, action-boy, danger-zone, madcap continuance that is my life gets reduced to a few sodding bullet points.

* Weekends Filled With Lack of Footwear
Many of my friends were off at a convention this weekend, and their absence was sorely felt. If I did not know how much I relied on them for companionship before, I surely do now. Although I was very entertained by the antics of janeway216, dramatic_spy, and of course the lovely missandrony, one couldn't help but miss my compadres in silliness and the wackiness they bring. I am looking forward to meeting a great deal of them come July.

* Writing
Got some done this weekend, not as much as I'd like, and none of it in the multiple projects I've got running simultaneously. I really need to get back on the horse with my novel, but I know what part I'm in and I fear it.

* Ficbunnies
These continue to plague me. I have two that I'm very fond of, one that I know I'm going to write myself soon once I get the pre-apocalyptic fic I'm doing finished with - it's a Caleb fic, detailing what happened before that brought him to service with the First, why he's a misogynistic pig, etc. Stuff like that fascinates me, and I don't think we got to see enough of what could have been a deeply interesting character.

The other ficbunny is one I will never be able to write given my overabundance of work, and so I'm leaving it up for grabs. Alternate S7, from Conversations with Dead People on. One thing changes - Xander's in the school building when Andrew and Jonathan are, catches Andrew trying to kill Jonathan, and accidentally stabs the effeminate one in the gut while trying to stop him. Thus, Xander has blood on his hands, and Jonathan's the trio member stuck with the Scoobs for the rest of the season. How does that affect events?

* Scheduling
Since I work eight hour days, I have very little time left to do the things I love, so I've had to schedule my fun. I have a very regimented schedule now for evening socking, writing, reading, film-watching, website work. Of course, most nights this will be blown to hell, but I'm trying to stay a course so I can get shit done and stop procrastinating.

* Samsaric-Lick.com
My enthusiasm for this is about the only thing that's powering it right now, but I simply do not have the time. I'm not ending the project, but I'm backburnering it. To launch something so hugely important at this juncture in my life would be folly. Maybe when I get to college again. *sigh* I hate to do this after so much work was put into it, but I had no idea how much of my life would get absorbed by this working thing.

* The Howling
Rented this from Netflix - have seen it twice before, but wanted to watch again for the underlying werewolf politics. It's not an idea given a lot of screentime, but the idea of a social order of lycanthropes with their own process of dealing with each other and the world is definitely apparent in the film. Somebody with a richer sociological background could probably write an article on it. Plus, hey, werewolf sex. Hawt.

I had forgotten, strangely enough, that Robert Picardo had a rather significant (if not particularly large) role as Eddie Quist, the deranged sicko who gets the events of the film kicked off. Of course, a lot of the conveniences of the plot bring him back later, where a bevy of pulsating air bladders turn him into a giant-ass werewolf.

The effects are often debated, especially given the film's closeness to An American Werewolf in London in release time. My take is pretty much that both have their strong and weak points regarding the makeup. AWiL's transformation scene is much, much better, very complicated, and I still don't see how they did half of the things they did. But the werewolf sucked. The Howling's mammoth bipedal beasties were much, much cooler, and win the award for end result, even if the process to getting there just was way more transparent.

* Kill Bill, V.1
I'm a big Tarantino fan, if for no other fact that he and I have much in common - we're deadly with film trivia, we know certain genres to nearly pixel detail, and we both like efforts that take the good stuff and subvert the bad. Kill Bill is Tarantino's homage/subversion of the Hong Kong action film. It's violent, over-the-top, crazy, and on occasion deeply funny. It's also very apparently a V.1, and even moreso than Peter Jackson's Lord of the Rings trilogy. It completely fails to stand up on its own merits.

Sure, the performances are good (surprisingly so for a film that's so drenched in plasma), the direction straight-on (although I think I'd appreciate it much better if I was better acquainted with both Chinese and Japanese action cinema), and the writing chock-full of zing. But the story completely collapses, without a real narrative cycle really completed. I understand that Tarantino found himself with a 3.5+ hour film and had to make a decision about its release, but surely some effort could have been made to make the film feel more substantial.

One thought I had during the film was that, given a single change to the approach of the material, it would have made a fantastic revenge horror film. See, what you do is, you barely show The Bride at all - you focus on her victims. Some feel remorse, some do not. All perish at the end of the blade of a woman who should be dead. It would make a great, classic scary movie. Especially given the extraordinary levels of unstoppable that Uma Thurman exhibits.

Also, I demand O-Ren/Sofie slash.

* The Draft
It's coming. I can feel it in the winds - well, that and some independent research. Certain forces are coalescing - Selective Service's budget went up by several million dollars, draft board positions are being quietly filled. The troops in Iraq have been stretched beyond their resources, and a new infusion will be needed so that Bush can maintain his crazy vigilante crusade. I am not a praying man. I have no God to speak of. So I have to beg cruel fate for some amount of release.

And it occurs to me that a change in regime may not necessarily prevent this - the fact is that we are knee-deep in the shit out there, and Kerry's pledged to help them rebuild. And unfortunately, the man's given me no confidence that his solution would not be the same, but given different dogmatic explanations.

I may be overreacting, yes. This may never come to pass, I know. But I cannot help but feel some small tinge of terror at the notion that my life could be forfeit to a conflict this nation should never have gotten into. It depends on a lot of factors - IF the draft goes through, and IF my number comes up, and IF I'm not deemed 4-H or its equivalent, and IF I end up going before the conflict ends, and IF I get into a combat scenario, and IF I die there. But I have no particular need or want to have any of those possibilites come to fruition, thank you. My peace is my own, and no-one shall take that from me.

Comments

[mymzee.livejournal.com]

That was long. I should be congratulated for reading the whole thing. I admire you for trying to schedule your fun. I could never do that. Fun is random spontaneity. Yes?

Also, by the way, John Malkovich is going to be in the movie version of "Hitchhiker's Guide". He's going to be Humma Kavula.

[jetpack-monkey.livejournal.com]

My version of spontaneous involves doing nothing. Am very lazy when given half the chance. :D

[kittycat22.livejournal.com]

Saw Kill Bill Vol. 1 this weekend myself. I actually enjoyed it far more than I expected to... blood and gore simply aren't my cup of tea. And I agree with you that it is *very* obviously a Volume 1. I liken it to the best tv cliffhanger... it left off at such a damn good place that people couldn't help BUT be hooked. Good marketing, Mr. Tarantino. For instance, I will now be dragging myself to see Volume 2 this weekend, whereas before I never would've bothered. And it was damn funny. The first execution cracked me the hell up. And the first extreme blood spray. After that first one, I got rather bored of the effect, but it was funny the once ;)

[jetpack-monkey.livejournal.com]

I think a lot of the enjoyment of the gore depends on an enjoyment of films previously done by KNB EFX (the makeup/blood folks behind Kill Bill). Most significantly, if you love Evil Dead II, you'll probably get some kind of kick out of Kill Bill.

[airawyn.livejournal.com]

Certain forces are coalescing - Selective Service's budget went up by several million dollars, draft board positions are being quietly filled.

Wow. I knew a draft was a possibility, given that the resources in Iraq are stretched so thin already, but I didn't realize they were taking steps to implement it.

I used to think that the draft wouldn't be used again. Naive, I suppose, but things were going pretty well there for a few years.

I don't think it's overreacting to be worried, but don't stress too much over it. Like you said, there are still a lot of "ifs" involved.
*hugs*

[jetpack-monkey.livejournal.com]

What's really ughing me is that my research is indicating that a draft will have two major factors to it:

A) It will be co-ed - both men and woman.
B) College will no longer be a valid means to avoid it.

[thevelvetdays.livejournal.com]

A draft comprised of those factors would be like trying to stick an elephant through a spaghetti strainer before the election, methinks. Would require far far to much red tape and revoking of existing red tape. I don't see both or necessarily even one of those factors being changed if they want a silent and quick draft being set up. Someone would notice and sound the alarm. As for co-ed draft, speaking as a female that would be eligible, I would rather be considered to serve than to be prevented from serving based on my gender. I would fucking hate to be able to use my gender as a means of expressing my pacifism. I'd much rather argue the system from the inside than from the outside. For me, it's complete bullshit that they would even consider a male only draft at this point. There would be too much shit from all directions. So, I think that if anything would change (and I'm not saying that there's going to be a draft. In fact, I feel about 90% confident that there won't be one, but that's just my speculation wiht my set of facts), I would say the thing that would change would be the gender inclusion. I hate, hate HATe military action. Everyone knows that I am a pacifist to my core. But if there's going to be a draft, something I can't change, I would want to see it co-ed.

[jetpack-monkey.livejournal.com]

I'm simply basing this on what research I have. From the sound of it, it looks like they're trying to run the Patriot play again - get it pushed through when nobody's looking.

The shame of it is, there's no public place on the Internet to find pending legislation if its in committee.

Plus, there's a really disturbing note on the Selective Service's homepage that states that they are not currently preparing for a draft. The language is so vague and tinged with doublespeak that it screams. This is straight of the current administration's playbook: say one thing just vaguely enough that when you do another, you explicitly state that it was open to interpretation that you said the first thing at all...

[missandrony.livejournal.com]

I definitely have your stance on it, Jacki. On one hand, the idea of wanting an all-male draft is incredibly hypocritical--after years of women demanding to be treated as the equals of men, we have to accept the not-so-hot responsibilities that were traditionally given over to men, such as the draft.

On the other hand, I ain't fucking serving in that war. No chance in Hell would I go if called. I would fight it tooth and nail. I'll be damned if I risk my life in what essentially adds up to Vietnam for the 21st century. We're never getting out of there--I've heard a lot of talk about how the Iraqis don't necessarily want us to go, because while we may have taken over, we're also pouring BILLIONS into their infrastructure. Every time another attack occurs, Dubya's stance on why we must stay just gets stronger. It's an awful ugly cycle with no end and shouldn't have been started in the first place.

I do agree about not getting the draft through, however. America aren't so ready to sacrifice their children any longer. They don't like seeing trained soldiers be killed; how would they feel sending their sons, daughters, neices, nephews, lovers, spouses, and partners off unwillingly? I think that's where the line in the sand stands.

[airawyn.livejournal.com]

On the one hand, I think it's a positive step that the draft will be more equally applied the next time around. On the other hand, I don't want any of my friends or family to be drafted.

< clerks > We weren't even supposed to be in Iraq. < /clerks >

[kittycat22.livejournal.com]

< clerks > We weren't even supposed to be in Iraq. < /clerks >

I love you.

[missandrony.livejournal.com]

Oh, what, I'm not entertaining enough for you?

Wait until you get here in April. I'll entertain you plenty, boy.


In bed.

[jetpack-monkey.livejournal.com]

Oh, you certainly kept things interesting, cheri. Very difficult to even approach the borders of bored with you about.

[qkellie.livejournal.com]

Ugh. Your draft information (and the ensuing comments about it) are basically scaring me to death. I didn't know things were getting to that point, truth be told. I admit to having head-in-the-sand mentality about current political strife, which I suppose isn't terribly good of me.

But, um, hey! Look over here! Dancing cartoon penguins! *gestures lamely*

Providing the dancing penguins

[sache.livejournal.com]

*G*

[jetpack-monkey.livejournal.com]

The good news is that some of my research is turning out to be a little misguided. I was freaking out about a bill currently sitting on the docket in the Armed Forces committee that would have opened the draft to both men and women and college students.

A little further research revealed that the bill was introduced by Democrats (!) who wanted equal race representation in the military - and was tabled by Armed Forces commission over a year ago.

I'm still wary, but if there's a launch to draft, it won't occur for another year at least. By that time, we should have a change in administrations...