bookmark_borderWIP Meme

Irys has a post up: The WiP Meme. I thought I’d join the fun. Not exactly sure what a meme is but since when has knowing what I was getting into stopped me??

First lines from WIPs:

    BG1 – Kelly’s theory was that cows, while not the smartest mammals ever begot, are the most chi balanced beings around.

    BG2 – “Crap, that sounds awful!”

    BG3 – Liz drove across the county to a small rural community called High Pond.

    Simple Sarah – Sarah could hear her father’s voice carrying all the way from the shop to the kitchen in the back.

    Long Lea – Moving rocks from the field is hard work, especially when you are a scrawny 10 year old girl.

    Centric – For one, the noise level was too close to painful.

    Wayback – On a dirt road not too far over the Durkhforn Mountains, a group of five could be seen walking at a slow pace, seeming to be in no hurry to reach their destination.

    Pedigree – The Temple of the Mind has been in its present location for around 100 years.

    Airport – What looked to be a pile of dirty laundry was actually a person slumped in the seat in the lobby of the small airport.

    Dog Days – “Hello.” Masco dared to stand.

    Predictable World – I had arranged my world to be predictable and orderly.

    The Guide – Rebecca looked out over the canyon, looking for the twinkle that would show her where Marcus was.

    Truck Stop – There was something about the way she walked; a certain swagger to her steps that separated her from most women.

    The Piano Bar – As I enter the bar, my eyes begin to sting from the cigarette smoke.

Eegads. Some of those are ghastly! note to self: pay better attention to first lines

bookmark_borderSleep and Conscious Thought

From Science Daily:

Deep Sleep Short-circuits Brain’s Grid Of Connectivity

In the human brain, cells talk to one another through the routine exchange of electrical signals. But when people fall into a deep sleep, the higher regions of the brain – regions that during waking hours are a bustling grid of neural dialogue – apparently lose their ability to communicate effectively, causing consciousness to fade….

Tononi and his team observed the disconnect when brief, magnetically generated pulses of electricity were directed to specific regions of the brain. The pulses stimulated an electrochemical response from the targeted cells, which, when the subject was awake, rippled across the brain, traveling along networks of nerve fibers to different cerebral destinations. But when the subject was in deep sleep, the same response was quickly extinguished and did not travel beyond the stimulated cells.

Then I did a search for “insomnia” and this article was listed:

Study Indicates Majority Of Patients Complaining Of Insomnia Are Diagnosed With A Mental Disorder

PULLMAN, Wash. — A new study by Washington State University researchers reveals that among patients seeking medical care for insomnia, more than half were diagnosed with a mental disorder. The most common diagnosis was depression.

I easily see the connection between the two articles. My conscious neurons are engaging in open communication and they are very depressed about it.

bookmark_borderSerenity, the Movie

Serenity: The Official Movie Website
FireFlyFans.net
Firefly Wiki
Firefly Wiki’s Link List to Other Firefly/Serenity sites

Ballad of Serenity
lyrics and music by Joss Whedon
sung by Sonny Rhodes
(obtained from the Extras page via their lyrics link on the Can’t Take the Sky website)
(also have the .mp3 of this song!)

take my love
take my land
take me where I cannot stand
I don’t care
I’m still free
you can’t take the sky from me

take me out
to the black tell ’em I ain’t coming back
burn the land
and boil the sea
you can’t take the sky from me

have no place
I can be
since I found Serenity
but you can’t take the sky from me

***

I went to see the movie, Serenity, tonight. Wow.

I don’t go to the movies much unless it is animated like Shrek or Monsters Inc or stuff along that vein. But when I first heard this was going to be out, I have eagerly awaited the chance.

Serenity is based on a short-lived TV series called Firefly. Fox, being the morons that they were/are, cut it short because they didn’t like it. Who cared that the audience did. They presented the shows out of order, kept changing the time and date, then would skip several weeks. If their goal was to cut the fan base down, I don’t think it worked.

Anyway, Serenity and Firefly were both written by Joss Whedon, the same dude who did Buffy and Angel. He is an excellent writer, able to make a point and make it fun and interesting to watch. I was impressed with the movie. It did a decent job of both incorporating the existing fans but also to cultivate new ones. One didn’t need to see the series in order to ‘get’ the movie. Some places here and there may have been confusing if you hadn’t seen the whole thing.

The writing is excellent of course, as were the acting. Nothing can ruin a great script faster than some awful actor. The only exception to this would be William Shatner, in my opinion. The camera action was good. Firefly was known for its different camera angles and tricks.

Some questions from the series were answered, many were not. More questions abound now after seeing the movie. I would be tickled if they started the series up again.

I won’t spoil the movie for you by telling you the plot. I will say it was funny, fast, gory (to a degree) and emotional. Oh, and all the original cast are there.

Go see this movie.