Podcasts for Writing

Since this year’s Penguicon, which I was sadly unable to attend, I’ve been collecting episodes of the Writing Excuses podcast. Two writers whom I admire were guests in those episodes, so I started downloading. I would eventually get around to listening to them.

I finally copied the files over to my phone last night, and began listening while I was on the way to pick up my might-as-well-be-biological sister in preparation for her holiday return to Delaware. As an aside, I still dig my cassette tape adapter.

There’s something to be said about listening to writers talk about writing, when you’re a writer. (Write.) I didn’t lack motivation before I started to listen again, but I’m finding that I have more of it now that I did. It reminds me of listening to Mur Lafferty‘s I Should be Writing podcast. Which, now that I go and visit the site, seems to have included video.

If you are writing, want to write, or want to improve your writing, I would recommend both of these podcasts. They give us access to those that are going through the same trials and tribulations that we are, or those that already have. They give us ideas and writing prompts that may take us in a direction that we would never have thought to take. And, if we’re lucky enough to pick up on it, they might even give us perspective.

Carnivale, Aqua Teen Hunger Force, and Dexter

Carnivale, Season 2

I was warned to watch out for the ending of this one. Warned that I should skip the last fifteen minutes of the last episode, if I wanted to keep liking the series. If the two seasons had been the complete story, I’d totally agree with the warning. But, knowing that each set of 2 seasons was intended to be a book, and that there were supposed to be 6 seasons (three books), the ending made quite a bit of sense. I enjoyed every episode of this season, from beginning to end, as much as I did from season 1. HBO contracted a bit of Fox disease, in that it cancelled an awesome show before its time. Five stars.

Aqua Teen Hunger Force, Season 1

Wow, you know, I used to love this series. It was insane and hilarious and didn’t shy away from not making any sense whatsoever. The first season, well, it’s like the first season of any Star Trek series. Needed serious work, but had a solid base. Of crazy. Three stars.

Aqua Teen Hunger Force, Season 2

Definite improvement from the first season. The show started hitting a good pattern, most of which involved Master Shake abusing Meatwad or Carl getting injured. This show pics and chooses what bits of the timeline to carry through, and partially resets after each episode. It’s similar to the method used in the Aeon Flux timeline, but comparing Aeon Flux to ATHF makes my noggin hurt. Looking forward to more. Three stars.

Dexter, Season 1

Dense. That’s the word I’d pick to describe this series. It’s been over a year since I started watching this with the wife and some friends at their Girls’ Night gatherings (don’t ask how I ended up invited). We watched a couple of discs, and then Supernatural reared its beefcake head, and they were hooked. I watched a few more episodes after Cian was born, during the sleepless nights. I’ve been streaming it again, and it’s not like Avatar: The Last Airbender, where you can just sit down and watch and watch and watch. One episode makes my brain feel full. Two in a row makes preoccupied a tame word for my zombie-like state. It’s worth every second, though. Great series, great writing, and great acting. Five stars.

Avatar: The Last Airbender: Book 3

Another batch of streaming Netflix awesomeness. I’d seen the last episode when my stepson did, but I hadn’t yet seen any episodes from Books 2 or 3, so there was a lot that didn’t make sense. Seeing everything that led up to the climax of the story was both brutal and brilliant. The series had a definite beginning, middle, and end. It wasn’t extended beyond its proper finish, but it wasn’t shy about acknowledging plot threads that hadn’t yet been resolved. As the last season geared up, I have to admit to displaying symptoms of addiction. :)

Five stars.

Avatar: The Last Airbender: Book 2

I can stop any time I want. Really, I can quit. I don’t have the title sequence nearly memorized. I don’t sit there with my mouth gaping wide open as flashes of the elemental katas are displayed over and over.

Nor do I hang on plot development cliffhangers, scratching my arms until I can click on the blue “Play” button near the next episode. I definitely didn’t squee when I recognized the voice actor of one of the Earth Nation’s capital city officials, and noted that he also plays in Carnivale. Also, I didn’t make a sad-face when I realized that this must have been one of the first entries made available for live streaming, due to all of the compression artifacts that show up through this series, but not others.

Nor am I giving it five stars. Definitely not.

Carnivale: Season 1, The Island, and Space Cowboys

had recommended this one to me a while back. He’d had me watch an episode way back when I had HBO, and while I was definitely intrigued, I wasn’t much into watching TV at that point. So, when I started up Netflix, I figured it belonged in the queue. And I was right.

Like most HBO series, it doesn’t shirk from adult themes, violence, or nudity. It also recognizes that these are tools for plot and story, and not things to be used for shock value or for titillation. We’re taken to the dark side of a mystic carnival, and it reminds me a bit of this .

There’s no flinching from the evil deeds of people, and there’s no flinching from the good reasons for it. Five stars.

One of ‘s picks, this one kept me entertained throughout. I especially liked the originals’ reaction to their insurance policies, as well as the very last scene. A whole lot of come-uppance going on wrapped in a sci-fi wrapper without too much shiny.

Three stars.

Another one of ‘s picks. I’ve seen this one on TV countless times, and it’s a classic. So many great actors and actresses, so many old fart characters. I felt right at home.

Four stars.

Doctor Who: The Beginning, Futurama: Bender’s Big Score, and Richard III

Man, that original Doctor was saucy! Not only that, he was full of himself, totally convinced of his and his granddaughter’s superiority, and totally senile! He was GREAT! Holy cow, sixties sexism was alive and well. Four stars.

Like the Simpsons movie, this one was pretty much an elongated episode. It was an enjoyable episode that actually had repercussions for stupidity during time travel. And since Bender was doing most of the time traveling, there was a whole lot of stupidity with a whole lot of repercussions. Enjoyable, but now wow-worthy. Three stars.

Man, that Richard was a rat bastard! The lesson from this movie adaptation of a play: Lie. Lie a lot. When you get caught, lie more. And then lie. Make reference to deformed genetalia and wanting nookie. Then lie more. Also, lie. Three stars.

The Simpsons Movie

When I was a kid, I had quite a selection of Simpsons t-shirts. Bartman, Don’t have a cow, and a couple of others. This series has been around since Detroit’s channel 50 joined the then-fledgeling Fox network. I remember sitting down and watching the first episode in my parents’ family room. Circa In Living Color, if I’m not mistaken.

That said, even I can have my Simpsons tank fill up. The movie was pretty much a Simpsons episode, but longer and being given full reign on screwing with the setting. It was entertaining, and for that I give it three stars.