Inkwell: Authors and Artists

    
I put up a few days worth of blogger posts at the FAQ site on
neilgaiman.com for anyone who wants to read them.
  

    
Erynn--thanks!

Adriana--it's good to see you again!

Jinx--thanks for the tip!  Once I get past this bloody test tomorrow,
I'm going to be looking for some Jackie.  And I will see if I can find
that Jet Li, too.

Neil--and a happy Ides to you, too.  I can *not* wait for Coraline. 
And that review didn't help ;->

Annie--isn't it weird how funny some things get in the middle of so
much grief?  It's an amazing survival mechanism.

Tara--it's OK, punkin.  Watch it when you get a chance.  I only want
30 column inches on it.......*kidding*.  Hope you get everything done. 
And find your files.

There's a question.  Am I the only person on the planet who *liked*
Branagh's "Love's Labours Lost"? Anyone?  Anyone?  Bueller?

OK, I love you Space-lady, 'bye-bye!

Ooops, Neil slipped.  <<Waves like maniac>> Hi, Neil!

Off to read bloggery goodness....
  

    
Annie,  I come from a long line of people who make short stories long,
so really I marvel not at the ability to write a story or to tell a
story, but to tell a story concisely. The kids' versions are filtered
through a barely-learned new language, so whatever fluidity the telling
had is quite evaporated. And you are absolutely right - humor always
helps. 

Neil,  that Dick van Dyke movie was one of my favorites as a kid. But
then, I was even then not on track to be a Disney princess, so the
ragamuffin Jemma? Jemima? was very welcome in the endless parade of
Disney at our house. 

Speaking of van Dykes, Dick's brother Jerry was my grandpa's best
friend when they were kids. They were terrible troublemakers. I am
fairly certain that's how the Floating Egg trick was passed down to my
uncles. One of their most beloved tricks (in our eyes, at least) was
stealing a bunch of failing notices from their high school dean's
office, and sending them out to the all the Honor Roll kids they
disliked. I love Jerry and Fred (Grandpa) stories - I'd like to record
a bunch of them to write down later.

Pam,  the Floating Egg trick was one of the least devious things my
uncles did. I'm mixing my well and xanga here, but they kind of tied in
together somehow. I can't say exactly how - I've lost the thread.
  

    
Madman - Poker.. lord, I know... we need to gather again, but it looks
like it won't be until April, after Chain Reactions opens.

I finally saw Life is Beautiful yesterday afternoon, and was stoically
trembling with tears running down my face at the end of it. Amazing
movie. The funny thing for me, though, is that I have long spoken out
against the American insistance on happy endings and yet I so
desperately wanted a happier ending than the one the film gave me.

In talking to a friend the day before, I commented that I am both a
total romantic and a total cynic. I'm the one watching the movie,
wiping tears from my eyes while I say "Of course, it's all rubbish."

Aren't contradictions fun?
  

    
Mr. Ford,  you seem to talk about Ayn Rand quite a bit. I wonder
whether or not you've seen this:
http://saintaardvarkthecarpeted.com/ayn_rand/
I've had the link forever, and every time you mention something that
has to do with that whole scene I mean to post it for you. I thought it
was very funny, but I'm somewhat easily amused.

Dan,  are you a romantic cynic (you think about how everything is
shite, but harbor, deep inside, a few notions of hope) or a cynical
romantic (you hope and dream that things will turn out the way they
should and ought to be, but you suspect it'll all turn shite in the end
anyway)? 
  

    
Maure - Probably more of the latter. My heart desperately wants to
believe in the way things should and ought to be, but I've hurt and
been hurt, and seen too many friends hurt and be hurt, and the actions
of humankind in general take a consistently selfish and destructive end
so many times that my head knows that my heart has a weak grip of
reality. (Not that good things don't happen.. they do... and they
happen enough times for my heart to tell my mind to go jump off a cliff
and leave it to its delusions.)
This is especially true, however, of plays and movies and such that
portray good triumphing over evil... especially when the good and evil
are so clearly and easily defined. And so as I watch something like
Life is Beautiful, my heart is rent asunder while my mind is pondering
why we don't see movies about the happy and perfect Japanese family
that was utterly disintegrated or that died of radiation poisoning when
the U.S.A. dropped the atomic bomb on them.
  

    

Since I am currently brainstorming domain names for myself, I am quite 
stunned into silent admiration with saintaardvarkthecarpeted.com.
  

    
>>while my mind is pondering why we don't see movies about the happy
and perfect Japanese family that was utterly disintegrated or that died
of radiation poisoning when the U.S.A. dropped the atomic bomb on
them.<<

Grave of the Fireflies. 
*nods*

Tho, not American.
  

    
OK everyone, I need to borrow your smart, amazing brains for a moment.
 My hubby and I are at a creative loss.  We have this annual tradition
of throwing a really sarcastic and fun Oscar party, and we always ask
people to bring dishes themed around one of the nominated films.  There
is a cheesy prize for the best entry.  We are excluded from the prize
obviously but we need to make some good dishes and for some reason we
are drawing a blank.  For example, some past entries included Eating
John Malkovich, which was a bloody meatloaf shaped like a brain,
Jar-Jar in a Jar (I think he was in jello), and Girl Interrupted
psychiatric pills (dixie cups with good n' plentys).  

For those who don't know, the five nominated films are Lord of the
Rings, Gosford Park, In the Bedroom, Moulin Rouge, and *shudder* A
Beautiful Mind.  But ideas can also be drawn from films nominated in
other categories (Amelie, Mulholland Drive, Memento, etc).

Please help, as right now the best we can come up with is Gosford
Pork, and we don't dig on swine.  
  

    
Others will already be doing stuff with onion rings.  Onion rings in lard
would be going too far.
  

    
On the other hand, one can also do calamari rings, pineapple rings,
and whatnot. My only thought so far would be to riff on the dixie cups,
and do M&mentos, a combination of M&Ms and Mentos. Not that those two
really work well together, but...
  

    
Or perhaps Meriadoc Brandybuckwheat bread? Samwise Kimchee? Aracorn
chowder? 
All I know is that I'm getting hungry now.
  

    
BillBill - M&Ms and Mentos... uh uh... the only thing worse in the
same mouthful is a combination of M&Ms and Skittles (she says, speaking
from experience) Ew. Samwise Kimchee? (hee hee!)

Actually, having the friends I do, I first thought of Gummi rings of
various flavours. For drinks, you'll have to have the makings of a
'brain' (uh... I *think* it's um... one of those strong clear things
that isn't Vodka, a bit of Bailey's and a drop of Grenadine to make it
really sick) Damn my non-alcoholic self!

DanW - Every time someone mentions something about the tragedy of
someone who died in the war (pick one), I think back to my own family
stories about the horror of NOT dying in the war. Luckily, my family
recovered (after many years), but I sometimes hear stories of some of
their friends who are still undergoing some medical treatments for
things that were a direct result of the war.

And lastly, while we're picking each others' brains: Does anyone know
where I might be able to find any of the Adrian Mole series of stories
by Sue Townsend? I've scoured the local bookshops with no luck, and I
know you lot have recommended half a dozen websites, but at the moment
I don't have the time to search through previous posts, and I'll
probably forget to when I do have the time.

urg, I'm late for a party.

Happy St. Pat's to all. Beware of green food that is glowing.

squeaks, who made up a plate of orange, white and green veggies for
the occasion.
  

    
Was also going to add:

I'm sure some of you have seen this before, but I haven't seen mention
of it here yet. Anyone else played Progress Quest? Best game ever!

http://www.progressquest.com/

squeaks, currently executing an octopus while seeking the legendary
albatross
  

    

It's being talked about happily in the games conference. Pure distillation
of the gaming experience. I'm so happy.
  

    
Michelle--
You'll be best off browsing around www.abebooks.com to start with. A
search on Sue Townsend with Mole in the title turned up 806 matches.
Best of luck :)
  

    
Dan,  I'm a sucker for happy endings - there aren't always enough of
them in real life. Happy endings aren't necessarily sappy, although too
often that happens. I wouldn't want to watch plays or movies that all
have realistic or unhappy endings all the time. 

Linda,  that's a fantastic domain name, isn't it? teehee

Adriana,  Moulin Roughy?  Gooseford Park?  A Beautiful Rind (but you
said you were anti-pork, so maybe using orange rind in something -
maybe you could hollow out a half-orange rind and fill it with fruit
salad or something.)
  

    
billsquared - THANK YOU! Geez, does this mean I owe you twice now?

Neil - Not that I had any doubts, but the cover for Coraline looks
beauteous! Dave always does wonderful things with your stuff (and with
his own stuff... er, I guess Dave is just a damn talented man). Now I
just need to figure out how to guarantee myself a copy of a limited
edition version. btw, It's really cool to see "New York Times
Bestselling Author" at the top of all your books now. :D

gooseford park... hee hee... I keep thinking you could make something
red for Moulin Rouge, but I haven't a clue what you'd make, or call it
for that matter... maybe if you dressed up some strawberries somehow...

squeaks, who just got back from a St. Pat's party that included a
group sing-a-long of "Bohemian Rhapsody" ("It's IRISH TRADITION!") and
a Janet Reno Dance Hall...
  

    
Happy St. Patrick's Day!

Squeaks--you could try half.com, too.  Sometimes they have stuff
really cheap, er, that is, inexpensive.

Neil--I *love* the cover of Coraline!  For that matter, Shambles, too.
 Yay for new stuff!

Mary (whose Jackie Chan obsession is growing and growing...)
  

    
Marlin Rouge?  You could put some sort of red sauce on marlin fillets.
Mignon Rouge - super rare steak with parsley boas?

The Coraline cover is exquisite.
  

    <scribbled by dfowlkes Tue 3 Jul 12 10:14>
  

    
BWAHAHAHAA!!!  Do you SEE why you people RULE??  I am writing this all
down.  This rocks.  
  

    

Here's a question:  sometimes there's conversation that takes place in 
this topic that's in response to things that people are reading elsewhere 
- I'm assuming in Neil's blogger - otherwise I haven't seen a pointer 
posted to the cover of Coraline.

It may only be me, of course who goes "Wha...?"  or it may be there there 
are others who just don't speak up.

What I'm getting at is, how can we make sure that people have the URL they
need to refer to at hand?

I'm going to test whether it's possible to put a URL in the topic title.  
While I'm doing that, are there any other suggestions?
  

    

A URL can go in the topic title as long as it's not too long.

So, what's the URL again?  And how shall we incorporate it into the 
goldfish swapmeet title?
  

    
Adriana - There's always Moulin Ragout, Goulash Park, and for Amelie,
you could have Creme Broulee (sp)

Linda - I dunno... it's stuff at neilgaiman.com... so maybe if people
just put re: neilgaiman.com at the beginning of posts about things on
the site?