Thursday, December 28, 2006

Episode 6: Post Christmas Blues (or: "More Work?")

I had a mighty fine Christmas, yes I did. I got a good stash, including some great sci-fi DVDs (Slither, Cube, Carpenter's Thing), the new(ish) Audioslave album, a bunch of books, and Final Fantasy XII, which I had been waiting for.

I've decided that, since I was without incoming cash flow of a larger scale, I should work over break. So I'm back at Hamilton, doing phone representative work. Its easy and part-time, which means only 20 hours a week. But...

New Years is coming up, though, and its about time for resolutions. Each year my primary resolution is to "Stay Awesome" and, quite frankly, its going to remain on my list of major to-do's this coming year. But there is also my new found desire to be a bit more tame of tongue. That is, swear less and say less vulgar things at inappropriate times. You can only tell your best, uptight Catholic friend's mother about your wing-wang so many times at dinner before, well... You see where this is going.

But just two nights ago I was at the local grocery store in my hometown when my last resolution hit me like a sack of sacks. Now, here in Harvard, NE, when you play a rock song with a band at a high school music concert, people remember it. So I'm checking out (buying bottle after bottle after bottle of Dr. Pepper) and this older gentleman approaches me and this conversation follows:
Him: "You play guitar, right?"
ME: Thinking about the times in high school I played guitar in front of basically the entire town. "Yeah, I've been known to."
At this point I'm getting proud and awaiting praise.
Him: "How do you do [insert about nine guitar-based questions, coming from an old man who doesn't know the first thing about playing guitar]?"
ME: "...uh"

I'm boastful, which is how I got into this conversation. When I said "Yeah, I've been known to," I carried myself with an air of ... with air-rogance. He saw it, more'n likely, and asked. I'm not the world's greatest guitar player. I'm a great and quick learner, but I'm far better at bass guitar and drums than I am at guitar. So to get out of this I had to think fast and move the topic from guitar lessons to me leaving the store.

So, from this point on, in an effort to reduce the number of people that assume I'm great at things simply because I tell them I am (which, honestly, whose fault is that, anyhow?!), I'm going to stop being so boastful.

And I'm going to be darned good at it, too! Better than anyone else! Just you wait and see!
-Skyler

Saturday, December 23, 2006

Episode 5: Home for a Reason (or: Eating a Lot of Christmas Cookies)

So I'm home, now. Have been for a couple of days. Gotta say, so far it is going well. I only came home two other times this semester, fall and Thanksgiving break. Both were cut short by either work or school. So, as you can imagine... Well, I'll leave the end of that up to your imagination.

I have put a lot of good food into me. Pizza and chocolate (in its many forms) taking top billing this year. Although, in a close second so far is everything-else. And Dr. Pepper tastes great with everything. Steak? Dr. Pepper. Pizza? Dr. Pepper. Dr. Pepper? More Dr. Pepper.

Later on this break, my brothers and I are going to be putting together some musical numbers, some little jingles so to speak (note that the songs will in no way, shape, or form be "jingles"). They will be great!

I'm also learning that, in life, you have to be sure that each choice you make is the right choice, before you make it. Otherwise, you didn't make a choice, you made a guess. You don't make right or wrong choices, you make good or bad guesses. Maybe I'm wrong with this analysis, though. If so, let me know.

Otherwise, I've got some giant texts to read through. So, MERRY CHRISTMAS everyone!
-Skyler

Wednesday, December 20, 2006

Episode 4: Rocky Balboa (or: Rocky Balboa is Great)

Warning! This post may contain spoilers for the new film, "Rocky Balboa."

So, I would say I'm a fan of the Sylvester Stallone "Rocky" franchise. The first two movies by themselves are some of the greatest sports movies ever created (for evidence, the original film was nominated for about two-billion Academy Awards), and the third movie managed to feature Mr. T and not have him be a joke. Four and Five were great, too, but each was different.

Then there's "Rocky Balboa."

This new film, which features an aging Stalone, is breathtaking on many levels. First and foremost, this movie features an aging Stalone who, seriously, looks fantastic for his age (just click on some pictures, here, and you'll see what I mean). I used to think Schwarzenegger looked great in "Terminator 3" a few years back, but whatever Stalone has been doing with himself these past dozen years... it works. I hope to God I look even half as good as I do now in fifteen years, and then Stalone is like... pissing me off with how huge he is.

Then you've got the acting and the characters themselves. Stalone actually shows the same skills that got him a Best Actor nod so many years ago; he actually is Rocky Balboa again, albeit an older, wiser Rock. There is a grace to old-man-Rocky that was only seen in the ring in previous films in the franchise, shown as he deals with the death of (yet another) loved one, his seemingly angst-ridden son, and the reunion (and subsequent blooming friendship) between himself and a minor character from the original film. He plays off all these characters well and in a believable manner.

The rest of the cast is fantastic; Paulie is back and is still Paulie. The rival, Mason "The Line" Dixon is well cast - he needed to be a self-centered, egotistic boxer, so they hired one. Without spoiling parts of the film, Rocky's son and the "minor character from the first film" are wonderful, too, and portray characters that are well developed and easy to identify with.

But if you're worried that this movie is all bark and no bite, fret not; the fight at the end is worth the hour of film you get to enjoy to get to it. The punches in this one look far more real than they did in the previous films, and the foot play is well executed; I'm not a great big fan of the sport, but this fight literally had me gripping the arm rests in my chair while my heart raced. Also, my jaw was dropped with a large, goofy grin cemented on my face. Rest assured, the fight does not disappoint.

But beyond all of this, the real treat of this movie is its story. This isn't the Rocky we've seen in the past, out to avenge the death of his friends, or out to claim a title. No, this Rocky is much, much more. The film explains it well and, again, to avoid spoilers, I won't go into Rocky's motivation to fight at length, but it's evident that Rocky has some issues he has to get out, some unfinished business within himself that needs taking care of, so to speak. And he takes it all out in the ring.

At under two hours, "Rocky Balboa" is worth the price of admission: Great acting, fantastic story, wonderful fight, and a training montage thrown in for good measure. You'll leave the theatre feeling younger (which is an accomplishment in my case, since I'm only 21) and itching for a fight, yourself. With all this and more ("Transformers" preview, anyone?!), there's nothing to NOT like about this picture. Go, see it this holiday season. Then see it again. And then take a friend.

And then your grandmother.
-Skyler

Monday, December 18, 2006

Episode 3: Finals (or: Them things what was kills us...)

So, every man, woman, and child (talking to you, here, Aaron...) here at Drake is either stressing over or studying for finals. Not me, though. No, me, Skyler Bartels... I'm just wishing they were over. I've stressed about classes this semester, I've worried my pants off (in public, which is not a good idea and gets you a spot on the Security Report) about tests, and worshiped Dark Lords in hopes of getting passing grades.

At this point all I can really do is sit back and let everything happen as it happens.

I have a test in my Comp Sci class coming up tomorrow which should be beyond thrilling. I'm excited for it, because it's going to be a chance for me to show the prof that "yeah, hey... I wasn't the best student this semester, but see? SEE! I cared enough to work my rear-end off (a serious medical problem, and costs quite a penny in hospital bills) to pass this test."

Then Wednesday I have a chit-chat sit-down with my advisor about a script that my older brother and I wrote at the start of the semester. Yeah, a full movie script. We cranked it out in about a week and a half and stayed true to our vision. I can't wait for her to tell me it was trash.

So, as you can see... Nothing to really worry about, anymore. I'll be fine, since I've done all the work I can to prepare for this week. Best to relax and take it easy, because before I know it, I'll be home sipping hot chocolate out of a large mug that has been used to make Root Beer Floats so often that everything that is put in it comes out tasting like Root Beer floats, and I'll be sitting in front of a fire singing carols and tearing into presents on a snowy Christmas morning.



...cept I've got this nasty sonuvagun Psych test that I'm crying about. Right now. Seriously, I can barely see through the tears.

I'm so dead.
-Skyler



And, because it was demanded by... uh, no one?

The Aaron Jaco "weekly" submission:
Name: Aaron W. Jaco.
Rank: Grandmaster, Necromancy
Dancing days are here again, and I’m just fumbling around looking awkward.
Finals aren’t killing us, we’re killing ourselves.
DOPPELGANGER!
Have you ever heard of a band called The Black Keys?
This has been Aaron Jaco, standing in for Skyler Bartels.

Thursday, December 14, 2006

Episode 2: The Death of a Great Idea (or: How Good Writing is Killed)

*Assassin's Creed Spoilers*
I've got a massive bone to pick with Kristen Bell, the lead actress on CW's "Veronica Mars." Now, I'm a fan of the show, but let's get one thing clear: "Ms. Bell? A story is best when told in its entirety, not by skipping to its ending."

Let me explain; There is a video game coming out in the near future called "Assassin's Creed," which has the player taking on the role of an assassin during the Crusades. This game has an aspect of total freedom: You are given a target, and you can take them out whenever, wherever, and however you want. There is no magic, no anachronistic weaponry, nothing. It's a realistic game.

At first glance it looks kind of like the old "Thief" games, with bow and arrow/sword play as the main focus. There was sure to be a great story, but with a game like this, so long as the game play is executed properly, there really doesn't need to be that great of a story, just so long as its there.

I was looking forward to this game, much in the same way that I have looked forward to other games that are similar (Morrowind and Oblivion, for example) in the past. But along comes Kristen Bell to ruin it all.

In a recent interview, Kristen - who lends her voice to the game - let the cat out of the bag:

"It's actually really interesting to me. It's sort of based on the research that's sort of happening now, about the fact that your genes might be able to hold memory. And you could argue semantics and say it's instinct, but how does a baby bird know to eat a worm, as opposed to a cockroach, if its parents don't show it? And it's about this science company trying to, Matrix-style, go into peoples brains and find out an ancestor who used to be an assassin, and sort of locate who that person is."

There's more, but I won't spoil it all here (for purists that might not want to know), but lets say that, if what she said is true, a certain 1/4 of the game might have been spoiled for us, the gamers.

This really upsets me the most, not as a gamer, but as a writer. Someone came up with this idea, this "diving into 'memories' found within genes" to find assassins and other people from the past, and I think its a great idea, when used in this story. You would play a majority of the game knowing you were an assassin during the Crusades, then -WHAM! BAM!- you find out the truth, that its actually in the future.

Here is exactly what upsets me about this; all the hype for this game is about the assassin during the Crusades, all the stealth game play, all the realism and all the fun you'd have with it. What a surprise it would be, if we didn't know any of the information that Kristen Bell revealed, to find out all these science fiction stuff was going to be a part of the plot as well?

This happens more often than this once, though. Throughout recent history, big-name movies, television shows, books, and video games have had their large secrets revealed far too early, ruining events someone came up with.

Now, you could say "Well, I still paid for [insert medium of the media here], so I still enjoyed it!" And while this is true, examine it from the writer's perspective for a moment.

When I come up with a good idea, I usually share it with other people. They agree that its great and they'd like to see it fleshed out. Usually these ideas are short, bare-bones versions of full plots or stories, though, and after I've decided on what my great idea is, I now have to go back and do all the work.

This work includes: Coming up with all the characters, writing dialogue, presenting a believable world, coming up with a step-ladder of plot points to get to my great idea, and coming up with a suitable conclusion. Rest assured, this is tons of work.

After I'm done, I look back at it, relieved. I have presented a fantastic journey to my great idea for my reader to go on, and I can't wait for them to talk to me about it once they are finished. My breathtaking idea, the one that I banked the whole story on, will be read eventually, but first the reader must trudge through set up, back story, subplots, and, eventually, a point where they wouldn't expect my great idea to happen. Then it does.

This moment is key for writers. When you lead the reader (or viewer, depending on what you're writing for) and then betray all that they thought they knew about the world you created, or you destroy that world, or you complete that world with but a single plot point... If you can go against their preconceived ideas of what the "great idea that spawned the story" were, you have suceeded.

Tying this back to "Assassin's Creed," when Kristen Bell or anyone else reveals such a huge twist, it destroys all the hard work done by the writer(s) that had to struggle to fill in all the pages of plot and spoken words in a heartbeat. Sure, all that material is there, but now its just in the way of their great idea, not the buildup, the lead-into. By the time the player would get to the "great idea," the previous work would be meaningless. Chances are, they've been waiting the entire game to get to that "great idea" and, now that they're there... so what? All that will be remembered will be that moment, because the player was anticipating it too much. If they hadn't know, every great moment that preceded it would have left a much better mark upon their memories of the game. Now, just filler.

People like Kristen Bell need to learn when to keep their mouths shut, and she can join Kirsten "I'll reveal that the Spider-Man 3 bad guys are Sandman and Venom MONTHS before I should" Dunst in a room for lame spoilers and we can lock the door.

Just saying,
-Skyler

Monday, December 11, 2006

Episode 1: The Pre-emptive Strike (or: Hello, I'm Skyler)

Another day another dollar, here at Drake University. I'm just sitting here, down in the lower regions of Carnage at Drake's Computer Help Desk, waiting for my shift to end, and I figured now was as good a time as any to check in with the folks that read this here blog.

How was my weekend, you ask? Well, non-existent second-person that asked me that question, I'll tell you.

My weekend started out like any other weekend, leaving my job at Toys R Us. It wasn't that I hated it, there were just some complications involved which forced my hand, so to speak.

Otherwise, most of my weekend involved concerts, study-groups, homework, trips to Wal Mart (for only 30 minutes, this time... not that long, based on my average), and wishing finals were over.

Speaking of finals, this semester has really kicked me in the rump, I tells ya. Mostly, I'll admit, it was my own fault, but it happened nonetheless, and now I've got to kick IT in the rump just to survive the rest of the semester. So far, so good, though, as I'm really pushing forward in the two classes that need the most work. My only hope, at this point, is that I can just keep my other three classes in tip-top shape, so's I don't have to repeat anything or drop out of college. Which would stink on entirely brand new levels of stinking. Trust me, I've done the research.

Otherwise, this week looks to be fine, a few group presentations and that's it from me. Otherwise, just attend classes and study-study-goof off. Er, I mean... study. Yes, yes... no one will be the wiser.

If you're ever looking for a good time, though (or a bad time, or are so bored you're willing to subject yourself to immense auditory punishment paired with good ol' fashioned headaches [just like mom used to make]), and would like to say "Hello" to a man who is, as his friends put it "a living legend in his own mind", stop by and see me at Spikes, approximately every night at approximately 10:30. Aaron Jaco and myself will usually be talking about nothing until our sides split.

And then we are forced to sew them back together with thread woven out of our broken dreams...
-Skyler

This is not an official page of Drake University. Content, comments and information are not necessarily those of Drake University. But pretend they are, anyway.

 
eXTReMe Tracker