Oh, my… here’s a interesting development: it seems that Scalzi came across the post I wrote about him and has linked back to me in a post of his own, using my full name and everything.

Continue Reading…

Here’s another tidbit from my old Cinemark padfolio, a quote that I apparently found inspiring or at least interesting back in the day:

Writing, like film directing, is a matter of making endless decisions. Every word, every sentence, the order of the paragraphs — everything is a decision. There are an infinite number of possibilities in putting something together as you write. Because of this, if a person is not decisive, he will never write anything.

–Lawrence Kasdan

If the name isn’t familiar, Kasdan is a screenwriter and director best known for the ensemble dramas The Big Chill and Grand Canyon. He also wrote the screenplays for The Empire Strikes Back and Raiders of the Lost Ark, based on outlines by the Great Flanneled One. Click here for his filmography.

In my roamings on the InterWeb, I’ve seen lots of Web sites devoted to “case mods,” i.e., computer housings that are custom-built by their owners to be something more interesting and unique than the basic off-white rectangular box you get when you buy a new Dell. I think of case mods as the geeky equivalent of the hot-rod automobiles my dad and his friends love to build, a sort of folk art that enables the builders to express themselves through technology. I’ve seen some cool ones, too, everything from a TIE fighter computer with an integral desk surface between the wings to a PC built into an antique Philco television. But now I think I’ve seen it all:

Yes, that is exactly what you think it is: a mannequin of a pretty, vaguely anime-style girl in a bikini with a computer sticking out of her back.

While my first reaction upon seeing this was a vague sense of irritation — to paraphrase Cedric the Entertainer’s line from Be Cool, must you play into the stereotype (of the geek who can’t get a date)? — but the more I studied the photos on the builder’s Web site, the more I started to admire the craftsmanship and effort that went into this. The “girl” is actually pretty not-creepy-looking when seen from the front, and having your very own “femputer” (as opposed to a fembot) would definitely make for an interesting conversation starter. Assuming that you’re the sort who could get anyone to come over to the house in order to have a conversation, that is. (Hey, just because something is a stereotype doesn’t mean it isn’t true…)
I don’t know — I think I like it after all. And no, not just for the obvious prurient reasons. It really is a kind of art work, just like a cherry T-bucket. Go have a look at the site and see if you don’t agree. The text is all in Japanese, but there are lots of photos showing the construction of the, um, casing in exhaustive detail.

For the record, I harbor no particular animosity toward Microsoft, at least no more than I do for any other gargantuan corporation that seeks to dominate the universe. Nor do I have any unusual affection for Apple products — to be honest, I’ve never used any Apple products and find something vaguely disquieting about the evangelistic zealotry of devoted Mac afficionados. And while I am impressed by the technical capability of the iPod to hold an entire record collection (yes, I know I’m dating myself by using the term “record” instead of “CD”; that’s just me, though, what can I say?), I have thus far been insufficiently intrigued by them to actually go out and buy one. I’m just not that much of a trend-follower, I guess.
Neverthless, I can positively declare, based on my professional experience, that the following parody hits the nail on the head. And it’s funnny, too. Really. Even if you don’t get it, trust me, it’s funny. Just go ahead and laugh already…