The Wordsmith's Forge

So there's a petition to set up the new MCU Spiderman as Miles Morales.  It's a longshot, but I am so rooting for this.  I haven't even bothered to watch the latest Spiderman movies, the trailers looked so awful; I prefer the earlier ones.  But if we could have Miles?  TAKE MAH MONEY!

I will never cease to be impressed by the fact that Miles came out of someone at Marvel saying, "I wonder what the demographics of New York are like today," looking up some actual facts, and then responding to the huge mixed race population by giving Miles an African/Hispanic heritage.  :D  

 Over on LJ, I have posted photos of building Leonardo da Vinci's trebuchet.

Actor Gary Owens has passed away.  I knew him from his work as the voice of Space Ghost and the announcer of Sesame Street.  :''''''(

Meanwhile, outside the Great Con in the Sky, Laika the cosmonaut dog is licking all over this guy.

This is the bonus material perk for the February 3, 2015 Poetry Fishbowl meeting the $300 level.

In Terramagne, Tim Henson makes Floppits and launched a television show called Semolina Lane. One thing that distinguishes Floppits from Muppets is that Floppits are soft puppets (like Kermit, but unlike Bert) who can scrunch their faces, and they also have a very particular gesture of scrunching down so that the sleeve wrinkles, the way a human would slouch or cringe. They use foam in different degrees of stiffness to provide structure, with skin made from another material such as fleece or fake fur. They can be human, humanoid, anthropomorphic, or animal in shape. (There are also regular actors on the show.) A few of the larger Floppits require more than one puppeteer to manipulate.

There are tips on how to choose a puppet maker, how to build a quality puppet or muppet or a fraggle style puppet, and some general resources. Watch a video of Jim Henson that shows puppet making and characterization.

A few of the following Floppits have already appeared in poems or stories. Others may appear in future writing. These are some ideas that I and a few friends have come up with.

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... is based on a stack of fallacies.  Read diversity.  Write diversity.  If you select for a bookstore or library, stock diversity.  

I'm just glad to see someone else making the kind of arguments I make about this stuff.  I never felt shut out by books with mostly male characters; it never occurred to me that they wouldn't be for me.  However, I really enjoy books with strong female characters when I can get them.

This poem came out of the November 4, 2014 Poetry Fishbowl. It was inspired by prompts from rix_scaedu and siliconshaman. It has been sponsored by Anthony & Shirley Barrette. It belongs to the Dr. Infanta thread of the series Polychrome Heroics.

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Stark Trek ...

I bet Tony's bedpost has even more notches than Jim's, of infinite diversity in infinite combinations. Also the ship/captain interactions would be even more awesome because of JARVIS.

Let's see now, obviously Bruce is the chief medical officer, but Hulk is security when he comes out. Steve must be the head of security. Bucky is Steve's second, recently recovered after being reported MIA, but now he's got a weirdly powerful metal arm and holes in his memory. Natasha is probably security too. Clint is so much a scout as well as an assassin, I think he'd be in charge of landing parties. (Ship's casualty rate goes down, enemy's goes up.) He might also man the weapons station on the bridge. Pepper would be the communication officer. Betty for science officer ... but she *transferred* from security and if you mess with her or Bruce, she will rearrange your face and ribcage. Phil has the helm, and never gets tired of using "don't distract the driver" lines when the bridge gets fractious. Engineering has some poor, henpecked redshirt because of course Captain Stark came up through that department and if the ship is really hurt, he delegates the bridge and goes down to fix the engine *personally*.  Also 50% of the crew should be female, the way God and Gene Roddenberry intended.

I would read/watch the hell out of this.  Anyone want to write me some?

This poem is from the December 2, 2014 Poetry Fishbowl. It was inspired by prompts from helgatwb and janetmiles. It has been sponsored by rix_scaedu. This poem belongs to the Danso & Family thread of the Polychrome Heroics series.

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 New website, looks like an interesting dance style.

Remember Save the Cat, the book that made movies all the same?  There's a sitcom code too. 

This is why I don't watch many movies and have given up on television.  It is all the same.  It is almost always boring.  A film or show has to come up with something extraordinary to get my attention.  What counts as extraordinary?  The black guy lives to the end.  Two women talk to each other about something other than a man.  The cast has ethnic and gender diversity. The setting is so awesome I don't care about the plot -- shut up, asshole, I'm watching the alien plant eat the not-butterfly. There is a plot that does not look like #1 (but #2 is a favorite of mine, that's a hurt/comfort ratchet).  

Now it's true that if you boil things down enough, most plots consist of "someone tries to solve a dilemma."  Within that lies tremendous potential for variation.  A certain amount of structure aids cohesion; too much chaos is incoherent and rarely entertaining.  "The first thing the hero tries, never works," is a good rule because it prevents challenges from being resolved too easily.  But the more you narrow down down the acceptable options, the more stories go untold and the more predictable the remainder will be.

I want diversity.  I want uncertainty.  If the mainstream continues not giving me what I want, I will continue mocking it and spending most of my money and attention elsewhere.