Midterm Mayhem
Well, maybe not quite mayhem, but I have quite a few midterms I should be studying for, and of course I'm on LiveJournal to proclaim that this is not yet another hiatus. Really, it isn't. Maybe an almost-mini-hiatus. But I have returned to make some announcements... Basically, here is what is on the Brainbin Agenda for the next little while.
First things first, NaNoWriMo is just over a week away and I have decided to participate yet again, even though I wasn't able to finish So Much For True Love. (Talk about life being what happens when you make other plans...) My NaNo project will basically be the second draft of the story, and hopefully that should give me the incentive to continue revising well after hitting 50,000. Granted, it's not an entirely new novel or piece of work, but I won't officially take credit for my work on the site, so that should even things out.
Other news: Expect another edition of Brainbin Reviews, this time focusing on a charming little anime that has caught my attention. A very well-done fansub and intriguing premise equate to something well worth investigating. I'm in the process of downloading as of this writing - expect the review this coming weekend. (No later than the first weekend of November.)
And some miscellany: Jon Stewart has once again been selected to host the Oscars, after Ellen DeGeneres' underwhelming performance last year. (Quite a few critics savaged her - unfair, I think, but given her more recent publicity woes perhaps it's all for the best.) Jon Stewart was fine the year he hosted - Roger Ebert in particular showered him with praise, but that was probably afterglow from his pick for Best Picture, Crash, upsetting over the heavily favoured Brokeback Mountain. (Or, as history will always remember it, the "Gay Cowboy Movie".) The thing about Jon Stewart is that he has a massive personality cult behind him - witness the hysterical crowds on any given episode of The Daily Show - and it's affected his ego. Not that I blame him - he probably can't help it. His compatriot Stephen Colbert, however, despite sharing the very same legions of fans, is dealing with them far more effectively - of course, his is a very different kind of show. But back to the point - Jon Stewart expects easy laughs at even the laziest of jokes. When he didn't get them during his Oscar monologue, he looked very uncomfortable. Hopefully, he learned from the experience.
For the record, though - seriously. When the heck is Billy Crystal coming back?!
The Office is coming along rather nicely, now four (hour-long) episodes into its fourth season. Consensus among fans is that the hour-long episodes are messing with the momentum, though - I agree. We're back to half-hour installments this Thursday. As always, though, the show makes me laugh effortlessly, and for that alone I will continue watching. It hasn't been flawless, but I think the fans (who rightly expect great things) are being a little too harsh.
Not much else I can think of for now, but more as it happens!
-- Brainbin
First things first, NaNoWriMo is just over a week away and I have decided to participate yet again, even though I wasn't able to finish So Much For True Love. (Talk about life being what happens when you make other plans...) My NaNo project will basically be the second draft of the story, and hopefully that should give me the incentive to continue revising well after hitting 50,000. Granted, it's not an entirely new novel or piece of work, but I won't officially take credit for my work on the site, so that should even things out.
Other news: Expect another edition of Brainbin Reviews, this time focusing on a charming little anime that has caught my attention. A very well-done fansub and intriguing premise equate to something well worth investigating. I'm in the process of downloading as of this writing - expect the review this coming weekend. (No later than the first weekend of November.)
And some miscellany: Jon Stewart has once again been selected to host the Oscars, after Ellen DeGeneres' underwhelming performance last year. (Quite a few critics savaged her - unfair, I think, but given her more recent publicity woes perhaps it's all for the best.) Jon Stewart was fine the year he hosted - Roger Ebert in particular showered him with praise, but that was probably afterglow from his pick for Best Picture, Crash, upsetting over the heavily favoured Brokeback Mountain. (Or, as history will always remember it, the "Gay Cowboy Movie".) The thing about Jon Stewart is that he has a massive personality cult behind him - witness the hysterical crowds on any given episode of The Daily Show - and it's affected his ego. Not that I blame him - he probably can't help it. His compatriot Stephen Colbert, however, despite sharing the very same legions of fans, is dealing with them far more effectively - of course, his is a very different kind of show. But back to the point - Jon Stewart expects easy laughs at even the laziest of jokes. When he didn't get them during his Oscar monologue, he looked very uncomfortable. Hopefully, he learned from the experience.
For the record, though - seriously. When the heck is Billy Crystal coming back?!
The Office is coming along rather nicely, now four (hour-long) episodes into its fourth season. Consensus among fans is that the hour-long episodes are messing with the momentum, though - I agree. We're back to half-hour installments this Thursday. As always, though, the show makes me laugh effortlessly, and for that alone I will continue watching. It hasn't been flawless, but I think the fans (who rightly expect great things) are being a little too harsh.
Not much else I can think of for now, but more as it happens!
-- Brainbin