Valerian and the city of a thousand planets (2017)

I wanted to see this movie, based on this graphic novel, because it looked like an original idea, and we usually get about one of those per year among the tide of super hero sequels, remakes, reboots, and brand name movies. It was pretty original, and had lots of elements I hadn't seen before. It …

The pieces are not the whole

People (or corporate entities, which are people for tax reasons i guess) often mistake the elements of some piece of entertainment or art, to be the things that make it good or enjoyable in themselves. This song is popular, they think, so lets make a song using the same sounds and it will also be …

Steam

Is very pretty when the sunlight hits it at the right angle. I've noticed this while making my coffee in the morning the past few days. The first time I was just staring, wondering how I never noticed steam in my life until now. But I guess steam + sunlight isn't so common an occurrence, …

The next batch of words

I've been a bit stuck for the past few days, but the next scene has come to me. Thanks muse! Now I feel the floodgates will open again soon... Sometimes I feel like (given my limited experience writing novels) the first 20 or 30% of writing is pulling things out of thin air. Then the …

Doers and preservers

I just listened to the section in Crime and Punishment featuring the talk about Raskolnikov's article. (very minor spoilers) The article talks about what Raskolnikov calls 'ordinary' and 'extraordinary' people, and their differences. The ordinary people, he says, are happy to be ruled and told what to do, and have not many exciting or interesting …