No way I can pass on the opportunity to share this. I was reading my feeds earlier on, and while getting the ones from Boing Boing, I saw their post about Plan 9. So, I rushed to Internet Archive to download it, since it seems to have indeed fallen into the public domain (Creative Commons license, here we go).

This is cult movie, I say, cult movie.

Bela Lugosi was cast in the role of “Ghoul Man” but passed away before filming really started. So what happens? The producer’s wife’s chiropractor (Mr. Reynold’s was the executive producer) takes over as “Ghoul Man” and holds his cape in front of his face THE ENTIRE MOVIE.

Add to this numerous plot inconsistencies, horrid acting, and masses of stock footage – some of which we see several times and you have a terrible but funny movie.

Pray, tell me, who can pass on such yummy details?

For some time, I had been looking for a nice, simple and cheap (read: not more than 50$/€, or, better yet, free) software for writing. The one I currently use is the well-known and very good OpenOffice, and I’m really satisfied with it; however, it lacks an essential component for novel writing in my opinion – the ability to navigate through chapters. When I write, it’s not from Chapter One to Final Chapter, and it becomes a hassle, once I have more than just 20 or 30 pages written, to navigate from one chapter to the other as I follow my inspiration regarding what to write at a precise moment. In a nutshell, what I want from such a software can be summarized as follows:

• Ability to organize files/chapters into an easily available single project or index, so that I can quickly sift through them


• Ability to export into a single file, for when I need a complete version to print or send


• Being close enough to a real word processor, at least when it comes to basic formatting, spellcheck and the likes


• Not being too expensive


• Having a trial version, since I don’t buy without testing first


• A bearable enough GUI. I’m going to work with this a lot, and staring at a butt-ugly software for hours can be discouraging no matter what. (I already have WordPress administration panel when I want that.)

Even though this may seem an evidence to some, writing more and more lately has allowed me to finally understand something about my own ways of writing — something that may be key to many blocks I’ve had in the past. Is this something common to other writers, or am I one among few who seemingly understand such evidences very late? I have no idea. I just know that being aware of this has helped me to take gigantic steps in how I had been writing.

There’s a mistake, in my opinion, that should absolutely be avoided when putting down what I could call the “alpha version” of a text, whatever its length: the mistake of absolutely wanting to make it perfect from the start. It only leads to slowing down, to stalling, to starting proof-reading when the article or chapter isn’t even finished yet, and to ending up devoid of all inspiration and ideas, when a few hours ago they had been pressing in one’s mind. There is something very intimidating and very strong in this whole process of proof-reading, really, that will contribute to paralyzing the writer, upon realizing that she didn’t choose her words well enough. This is pretty bad. I wonder if there’s anything worse, in creative writing, than stifling one’s motivation with fears of not being “the best” from second one?...

This morning, I stumbled upon what I could call an “essay on the basic posting formats in blogs”. This is something I won’t reproduce here, given that the article is divided in seven parts (eight, if you count the index from which you can reach all other parts) and quite long; however, I’d encourage anyone to read it. You can find it here on Contentious.

While I’m aware that lots of bloggers don’t exactly care about what their writing style is like, or even about actually having a “style”, I took interest in this from my point of view of aspiring writer, as well as simply driven by curiosity. It doesn’t have anything to do with languages themselves, it doesn’t show a limited interest due to “being written for English-speaking people only”, and thus was instructing on more than one account. Whether in blogs or in other kinds of articles — who knows where the future and potential changes of career can take me or anyone else? — concision and editorial skills can be a valuable asset. So, I didn’t want to pass on the opportunity to take note, in case this would be useful to me later on.

Some of these formats are very familiar; some others, such as the series postings, are seen less often. Regardless, there’s something somewhat fascinating in how all of this is shaped, and has developed over the years from simple links filters to a writing that can now be considered as a style.

Un peu plus tôt dans la soirée, occupée à explorer les diverses chaînes de notre abonnement TPS nouveau-né, j’ai été frappée par une scène apparemment des plus banales sur Tfou – une petite vache en images de synthèse, invitant son jeune public à lui envoyer diverses occupations pour l’été car, disait-elle, “sa maman n’avait rien trouvé de mieux à lui suggérer que de faire une collection de broccolis”. Lesdites idées de loisirs seraient diffusées ici et là sur la chaîne durant les vacances.

Quid de l’étrangeté de cette scène, me direz-vous? Ceci, tout simplement: depuis quand les enfants ont-ils besoin d’une chaîne de télévision pour leur dire comment passer leurs étés? Je ne crois pas que mes amis de l’époque ni moi-même ayons eu besoin de ce genre d’artifices pour nous “tenir occupés”. Bien au contraire, les journées n’étaient jamais assez longues lorsqu’il s’agissait de faire jouer notre imagination fertile. Un vieux balai sans poils devenait un puissant bâton de combat. Le manche d’un maillet de croquet bon marché se transformait en sabre laser. Un tas de terre, dans le lotissement encore en construction où nous vivions alors, se révélait être une montagne infranchissable donnant libre cours à nos escalades d’alpinistes chevronnés à l’aide d’une corde de remorque et d’un morceau de bois en guise de piolet. J’ai d’ailleurs du mal à me souvenir du type de programmes que nous regardions à la télévision à cette époque, étant donné qu’il ne s’agissait pas là de notre activité première.

D’où ma question et ma perplexité... Quinze, voire vingt ans plus tard, la nouvelle génération a-t-elle donc vu décliner sa capacité à l’imagination? C’est là une pensée qui me fait froid dans le dos, et qui néanmoins ne m’étonne plus vraiment, car j’ai pu en voir l’illustration flagrante à plusieurs reprises. Une généralisation n’est bien sûr pas de mise; néanmoins, ce petit interlude télévisé m’a laissé un goût amer dans la bouche.

L’on en viendrait vraiment à se demander si tout ce que crée notre société n’est rien d’autre qu’un assistanat permanent, à commencer dès le plus jeune âge…