I've watched two documentaries over the past few days. Both have given me insight and have made me want to delve further into their subjects, but only one of them made me a bit... well, a angry is not the right word. It's also not for reasons I would have first thought of. I'll be writing more detailed reviews and findings after I've had some time to step away and look at them more objectively and complete some personal research and investigations. For now, though, my initial thoughts:
Religulous was up first, Bill Maher's exploration of religion. To be honest, I was expecting it to be a lot more incendiary than it was. However, Maher was really a nice guy to everyone he met, even though he'd try to poke them into a bit of healthy debate. He mostly focussed on asking questions. I also learned that many deities actually share a lot in common with Jesus Christ; more than I had realized.
Tonight, I watched Ben Stein's Expelled, which is about Intelligent Design. I'll be honest: I was expecting to be really angered by this film.While I think the use of the imagery of the Berlin wall and Nazi Germany was more than a tad heavy-handed, they did seem to have a point and made sense within the Intelligent Design arguments. Great pains were taken at the beginning of the film to separate ID from Creationism. That ID did not have to be viewed from a religious perspective, and was merely proposing that life was kickstarted, or designed as it were, by some form of intelligence. This, I thought, could be plausible. I would love for the stigma to fade and allow research in this arena. It was towards the end of the film that I became angry. That's when the previous statements that religion (or specifically, Judeo-Christian) did not have to be involved in ID... well, they were blatantly ignored, in favor of capital "g" God being that specific intelligent designer. This, I think, detracted from the whole film.
As stated above, I'm going to do a bit of research on my own and take a step back before I write a proper blog post about either film.
* * *
And now, some snippets about life in general:
On Saturday, My friend Rach, her boyfriend Mark and I attended our first roller derby bout. It was a battle royale between the London Roller Girls and the UK Allstars (a team made up of the best derby girls from the rest of the country). London won by quite a margin (they have been at it longer than everyone else), but the Allstars received the most cheers by far (perhaps this was because were were in High Wycombe and not London). It was great to actually see the sport in action outside of practice jams. Now I just need to get the hang of skating... more practice!
Today marks one year that I've lived in Britain. It was a rocky start, but I think I've come into my own and truly feel comfortable here.
Tomorrow is my husband's birthday, and he's spending it as a contestant on ITV's The Chase. Good luck, Michael!
* * *
Lastly, here are a few podcasts I've been enjoying lately. All can easily be found on iTunes:
WYNC's Radiolab [link]
Radiolab explores a myriad of topics and threads stories and interviews together beatifully and with fantastic production values. Because of Radiolab, I now know about the terminal velocity of cats falling out of buildings as well as face-blindness ( neuroscientist and author Oliver Sacks and artist Chuck Close both experience this condition).
Hometown Tales [link]
The Hometown Tales blog looks like it hasn;t been updated in a few months, but they're still putting out podcasts about every three weeks or so. Very much one of those "two guys shooting the shit about X" podcasts. The X in this case stands for hometown tales, folklore and urban legends. The great thing is, it's not about these stories being true (in fact, most of the time hosts Bryan and Gene don't think they are), it's about the fun of telling the stories themselves. There is also a separate feed of video podcasts available, most of which were segments from their old public access show.
Chortle: the Peacock and Gamble Podcast [link]
First off, don't listen to this at work unless you're wearing headphones and are prepared to be stared at by your coworkers as you gasp for air after loud fits of laughter. It's rude, it's crude, and it is utterly fantastic. Again, it's two blokes shooting the shit here, but the twist is that they're both actually professional comedians... who are both mental. I first saw Ray Peacock on Russell Howard's Good News on BBC3... the same night Matt Smith debuted as the Doctor, I believe. Michael actually started listening to the podcast first, and I hadn't given it a shot until a week or two ago. Now I'm hooked. After a bad day at the office last week, I listened to an episode on my way home... and it cheered me right the fuck* up.
*OH NO! I DID A SWEAR! Actually, I said "shit" a few times too, so I did many swears. Oops.
Monday, October 4, 2010
Thursday, September 30, 2010
Scientology on the BBC's Panorama
A couple of nights ago, I watched Panorama on BBC1 with my husband, Michael. The subject? Secrets of Scientology.
I'd heard a lot about Scientology through the media in recent years: Tom Cruise jumping on Oprah's couch and going ballistic against mood-altering drugs prescribed by the psychiatric community; Isaac Hays leaving the cast of South Park after an episode criticizing Scientology was produced; and the frightening tale of Lisa McPherson.
The Panorama program focused mainly on the negative effects of how the church was operated, and not so much on its teachings. Personally, I think people have a right to believe what works for them. If Scientology is the way for you and makes you happy, that's fantastic! However, I do think that the way the Church of Scientology is run and many of its social practices aren't doing it any favors.
When asked what they think of the fact that many people believe Scientology is a cult, the reaction of church leaders and high level practitioners is one of deep offense. The person asking the question is not calling it a cult themselves and simply wants to know how these Scientologists feel about these statements. I've never seen or heard an honest answer to this question. Granted, I haven't been actively looking for one yet.
As a part of my great personal education caper, I'm going to be learning a bit more about Scientology. Dianetics is on my To Read list of religious texts. I want to understand why so many people flock to this church, while so many others condemn it. I want to find out if beyond the controversy there is some positivity. And I want to know if the rumor that L. Ron Hubbard started Scientology to win a bet with Robert A. Heinlein has any shred of truth behind it.It probably doesn't, but wouldn't that be both impressive and horrifying at the same time?
For now, check out the links to various Panorama reports about Scientilogy (including the one from 1987 with some dreadful animation depicting the Xenu space opera, supposedly shared at Operating Thetan level III). I've also included a clip produced by the Church of Scientology as a rebuttal to Panorama's 2007 program. Enjoy!
YouTube links:
Panorama: Scientology the Road to Freedom? (1987)
Panorama: Scientology and Me (2007)
A section of Scientology's Response to the above [there are many more clips from this rebuttal that can be found in the list of related videos for this clip]
Panorama: Scientology & Me - What Happened Next [a further update from Panorama]
I'd heard a lot about Scientology through the media in recent years: Tom Cruise jumping on Oprah's couch and going ballistic against mood-altering drugs prescribed by the psychiatric community; Isaac Hays leaving the cast of South Park after an episode criticizing Scientology was produced; and the frightening tale of Lisa McPherson.
The Panorama program focused mainly on the negative effects of how the church was operated, and not so much on its teachings. Personally, I think people have a right to believe what works for them. If Scientology is the way for you and makes you happy, that's fantastic! However, I do think that the way the Church of Scientology is run and many of its social practices aren't doing it any favors.
When asked what they think of the fact that many people believe Scientology is a cult, the reaction of church leaders and high level practitioners is one of deep offense. The person asking the question is not calling it a cult themselves and simply wants to know how these Scientologists feel about these statements. I've never seen or heard an honest answer to this question. Granted, I haven't been actively looking for one yet.
As a part of my great personal education caper, I'm going to be learning a bit more about Scientology. Dianetics is on my To Read list of religious texts. I want to understand why so many people flock to this church, while so many others condemn it. I want to find out if beyond the controversy there is some positivity. And I want to know if the rumor that L. Ron Hubbard started Scientology to win a bet with Robert A. Heinlein has any shred of truth behind it.It probably doesn't, but wouldn't that be both impressive and horrifying at the same time?
For now, check out the links to various Panorama reports about Scientilogy (including the one from 1987 with some dreadful animation depicting the Xenu space opera, supposedly shared at Operating Thetan level III). I've also included a clip produced by the Church of Scientology as a rebuttal to Panorama's 2007 program. Enjoy!
YouTube links:
Panorama: Scientology the Road to Freedom? (1987)
Panorama: Scientology and Me (2007)
A section of Scientology's Response to the above [there are many more clips from this rebuttal that can be found in the list of related videos for this clip]
Panorama: Scientology & Me - What Happened Next [a further update from Panorama]
Panorama: The Secrets of Scientology (2010) [currently still available on BBC iPlayer, for those in the UK]
Monday, September 27, 2010
QuickLunch Break Update
Just a quick update for now; planning on a full post later tonight.
I'm about halfway through the book of Genesis now, and already I've decided there is no way I can take the Bible literally. The first two chapters (the story of Creation and the story of Adam and Eve) directly contradict each other in their timelines. So, not unexpectedly, I'm taking it as a collection of stories, some of which have many variations and interpretations. I've found I actually know many of the stories in Genesis already.
I've got to say, though, I'm more looking forward to the New Testament. I'm not really digging the vengeful God of the Old Testament at all. Granted, at this point, the world is new and he might not have been a dab hand at it, but he seems to play favorites and generally acts like a bit of a jerk. It's okay though; I know he mellows out a bit after he has his son.
I'm going to be making a post for each book I get through, to share what I gleaned from it. It is interestring though, if still difficult to get through.
I'm about halfway through the book of Genesis now, and already I've decided there is no way I can take the Bible literally. The first two chapters (the story of Creation and the story of Adam and Eve) directly contradict each other in their timelines. So, not unexpectedly, I'm taking it as a collection of stories, some of which have many variations and interpretations. I've found I actually know many of the stories in Genesis already.
I've got to say, though, I'm more looking forward to the New Testament. I'm not really digging the vengeful God of the Old Testament at all. Granted, at this point, the world is new and he might not have been a dab hand at it, but he seems to play favorites and generally acts like a bit of a jerk. It's okay though; I know he mellows out a bit after he has his son.
I'm going to be making a post for each book I get through, to share what I gleaned from it. It is interestring though, if still difficult to get through.
Friday, September 24, 2010
Revisiting the Good Book
As I've said before, I would consider myself a reluctant athiest. Why reluctant? Because being an agnostic and at least believing that there was some sort of purpose to our little lives causes much less existential angst. However, the way my brain works logically has resulted in my atheistic thinking. I do consider myself an athiest with a lowercase "A" though, as I'm open to the possibility of there being something more than this, but would need some sort of evidence in order to justify a shift in my beliefs.
I am one of the Faithless.
A lot of factors contributed to this, and I ended up moving away from Christianity in much the same way I figured out there was no Santa Claus.* The more I learned about the world around me, and the more questions I asked that seemingly could not be answered by the Bible or my fellow Christians young and old, the less I felt connected to God and Jesus and the Holy Spirit.
The doubt definitely began when I was around 10. My family had never been really religious to begin with, but we considered ourselves Christian even though we didn't attend church often, if at all. A friend of my mom had a daughter in a Missionettes group at a local church, so I ended up joining too. Missionettes are a Christian variation of girl scouts. You earn badges and take part in activities, but obviously it involves more praying and Bible reading. In fact, to move through the different levels of Missionettes (whcih were all named after women in the Bible; I can only remember that one level was called "Ruth"), you were required to read certain sections of the Bible, and tick them of your list as you went. By the time you made it to the top level, you most likely had completed reading the whole thing.
I had a King James version of the Bible, which is written in the same type of language used by Shakespeare. Keep in mind, that while I was a bright kid, I was only about 10. I wasn't aware that there were several versions of the Bible, including version that were written in modern English, which would have been easier to understand.
I sat down to read the chapters I was assigned many times and struggled. When I asked for help from the Missionette leaders and assistant leaders because I was having a hard time comprehending, I wasn't given any. I've only been left with the vague impression that I was supposed to understand it all without any trouble, and that my questions were not welcome. This, and my time at a Missionette camp weekend when I fearfully witnessed a good many people "speaking in tongues," was definitely the beginning of the end for me.
I moved from a Christian, to a sort of agnostic-Christian, to a shameful phase as a wannabe Pagan in high school, to where I am now. I wanted to believe, but found that I couldn't.
As a part of my new educational adventures, I've decided to give the Good Book another go. I'm not setting out to become a born-agan-Christian, but I feel that if I'm going to live in a world where Christianity is ever present (especially in my country of origin) I should really learn more about it than what I picked up as a child and as an adult in art history classes that cover the middle ages.
My friend Rach is being kind enough to lend me a copy of a CEV (Contemporary English Version) Bible. I'll be making future posts as I read my way through it. In the future, I'd also like to read other religious texts, like the Qur'an, the Book of Mormon, Mahayana sutras, and even Dianetics. I'm sure I'll find a lot out there, but if you have any suggestions, let me know!
*Here's the story: I had long since figured out that my parents wrote the gift tags on my presents from Santa, though they had claimed to be helping him out as he was a very busy man. This made sense in my childhood logic, of course. It wasn't until I'd learned that there was no actual land at the North Pole (thanks, Where in the World is Carmen San Diego!) that I realized Santa probably wasn't real. Nevermind the fact that the ice is most likely solid enough up there to support a toy workshop and reindeer stable, I didn't think of that.
And if you're American and grew up about the same time I did, you now have the theme song from Carmen San Diego stuck in your head. Isn't Rockapella awesome?
I am one of the Faithless.
A lot of factors contributed to this, and I ended up moving away from Christianity in much the same way I figured out there was no Santa Claus.* The more I learned about the world around me, and the more questions I asked that seemingly could not be answered by the Bible or my fellow Christians young and old, the less I felt connected to God and Jesus and the Holy Spirit.
The doubt definitely began when I was around 10. My family had never been really religious to begin with, but we considered ourselves Christian even though we didn't attend church often, if at all. A friend of my mom had a daughter in a Missionettes group at a local church, so I ended up joining too. Missionettes are a Christian variation of girl scouts. You earn badges and take part in activities, but obviously it involves more praying and Bible reading. In fact, to move through the different levels of Missionettes (whcih were all named after women in the Bible; I can only remember that one level was called "Ruth"), you were required to read certain sections of the Bible, and tick them of your list as you went. By the time you made it to the top level, you most likely had completed reading the whole thing.
I had a King James version of the Bible, which is written in the same type of language used by Shakespeare. Keep in mind, that while I was a bright kid, I was only about 10. I wasn't aware that there were several versions of the Bible, including version that were written in modern English, which would have been easier to understand.
I sat down to read the chapters I was assigned many times and struggled. When I asked for help from the Missionette leaders and assistant leaders because I was having a hard time comprehending, I wasn't given any. I've only been left with the vague impression that I was supposed to understand it all without any trouble, and that my questions were not welcome. This, and my time at a Missionette camp weekend when I fearfully witnessed a good many people "speaking in tongues," was definitely the beginning of the end for me.
I moved from a Christian, to a sort of agnostic-Christian, to a shameful phase as a wannabe Pagan in high school, to where I am now. I wanted to believe, but found that I couldn't.
As a part of my new educational adventures, I've decided to give the Good Book another go. I'm not setting out to become a born-agan-Christian, but I feel that if I'm going to live in a world where Christianity is ever present (especially in my country of origin) I should really learn more about it than what I picked up as a child and as an adult in art history classes that cover the middle ages.
My friend Rach is being kind enough to lend me a copy of a CEV (Contemporary English Version) Bible. I'll be making future posts as I read my way through it. In the future, I'd also like to read other religious texts, like the Qur'an, the Book of Mormon, Mahayana sutras, and even Dianetics. I'm sure I'll find a lot out there, but if you have any suggestions, let me know!
*Here's the story: I had long since figured out that my parents wrote the gift tags on my presents from Santa, though they had claimed to be helping him out as he was a very busy man. This made sense in my childhood logic, of course. It wasn't until I'd learned that there was no actual land at the North Pole (thanks, Where in the World is Carmen San Diego!) that I realized Santa probably wasn't real. Nevermind the fact that the ice is most likely solid enough up there to support a toy workshop and reindeer stable, I didn't think of that.
And if you're American and grew up about the same time I did, you now have the theme song from Carmen San Diego stuck in your head. Isn't Rockapella awesome?
Thursday, September 23, 2010
Confessional
Forgive me, bloggers and blog readers, for I have sinned. It has been four months since my last post. During that time I've continued work (which has been a bit stressful at times), gone on holiday back to the States, had my first wedding anniversary, and have started going to Roller Derby practices (though as of late I've had to miss out because I've been under the weather).
It's been a bit hectic, all told. And I've not been the happiest of bunnies, all told. I've been over working myself at work (what can I say, I'm industrius), and have been desiring a project to work on, and have missed blogging. My super secret project is on hold at the mo, but I've done some major rethinking about my time management and what would make me happy, as well as what I'm interested in.
I've come to the conclusion that I want to take a more active role in my life, and I want a bit of adventure. I want to learn new things about topics I'm interested in, and I want to share that with you all. I finally came to the conclusion after reading Spook by Mary Roach and beginning to read Join Me by Danny Wallace. Both of whom decided to go out and DO something; Mary having done a load of really practical research about the idea of ghosts and the afterlife, and Danny bringing together a large collective of people seemingly by accident after he began his project on a whim.
I've come to realize that there are a lot of things that I don't know about and haven't experienced or learned for myself. I'm a skeptic and a reluctant atheist by nature, but haven't properly looked into the science and the religious enough to completely understand them. I don't think ghosts exist or that aliens abduct people, but at the same time, wouldn't it be kind of cool if some of that stuff were true? And how does brain function account for any of the aforementioned? Are some people more predisposed to believe in God, aliens, ghosts, or Bigfoot? The words "quantum physics" are bandied about by many, but how does quantum physics actually work?
I'm naturally inquisitive, and I soak up information like a sponge. What I'd like to do is learn as much as I can about things that I find genuinely interesting and that people seem to be divided on and share my findings on this blog.
I've now got a purpose! Let the adult education of Stephoodle begin...
It's been a bit hectic, all told. And I've not been the happiest of bunnies, all told. I've been over working myself at work (what can I say, I'm industrius), and have been desiring a project to work on, and have missed blogging. My super secret project is on hold at the mo, but I've done some major rethinking about my time management and what would make me happy, as well as what I'm interested in.
I've come to the conclusion that I want to take a more active role in my life, and I want a bit of adventure. I want to learn new things about topics I'm interested in, and I want to share that with you all. I finally came to the conclusion after reading Spook by Mary Roach and beginning to read Join Me by Danny Wallace. Both of whom decided to go out and DO something; Mary having done a load of really practical research about the idea of ghosts and the afterlife, and Danny bringing together a large collective of people seemingly by accident after he began his project on a whim.
I've come to realize that there are a lot of things that I don't know about and haven't experienced or learned for myself. I'm a skeptic and a reluctant atheist by nature, but haven't properly looked into the science and the religious enough to completely understand them. I don't think ghosts exist or that aliens abduct people, but at the same time, wouldn't it be kind of cool if some of that stuff were true? And how does brain function account for any of the aforementioned? Are some people more predisposed to believe in God, aliens, ghosts, or Bigfoot? The words "quantum physics" are bandied about by many, but how does quantum physics actually work?
I'm naturally inquisitive, and I soak up information like a sponge. What I'd like to do is learn as much as I can about things that I find genuinely interesting and that people seem to be divided on and share my findings on this blog.
I've now got a purpose! Let the adult education of Stephoodle begin...
Monday, May 17, 2010
Taking Care of Business
It's been almost a month since I've updated. Crazy how when you go from unemployed to working full time you spend much less time blogging and tweeting than you used to! I need to work on that.
The super secret project is plodding along. I've finally forced myself to complete a concrete summary/strip-by-strip outline of the story, because bits keep evolving in my head, and if I just let it go on I will never finish this. Most of the summary is complete; I'm just fidding with how things will go during the climax, as there are many threads to tie in and I might need a short flashback to lead up to it (and I'm not sure how to integrate that yet without disturbing the flow of the narrative). I'm also looking at comic books and artists I enjoy in order to nail down the overall look. I have some ideas (and all the characters but one are nailed down), but I'll need to experiment a bit before I find what fits. Normally my style is fairly static, but I would love to put much more energy into my lines and images, like Dave McKean, Craig Thompson, and a few others I can't quite remember off the top of my head.
Michael and I ended up watching a show about Picasso on BBC1 last night, and it was amazing and inspiring. His paintings are another reason I want to try to capture more emotion and energy in my work. I also now have a really strong desire to paint again, on large canvases; maybe even try oils. And learning that Picasso worked in so many varied mediums (more than I knew he had) makes me worry less about the fact that I like to create so many different kinds of things. It made me want to work with fimo clay again, too, and get my Etsy store back up and running with new products. I'll be working towards that over the next few weeks.
We're heading off to a wedding in Glasgow next weekend (volcanic ash permitting). It'll be my first trip to Scotland! Yay! And I met a good chunk of people that are going to be there this past weekend at a housewarming party, so I won't feel as awkward as I could have. This is good.
The weekend after the wedding, we're having a party of our own for Eurovision! It's my first one ever. I still don't quite get it, but it seems like good, awful fun. There will also be much Rock Band and SingStar and crazy board games and (of course) Doctor Who. Because we're all nerds.
So that's how things are going at the moment. I've got to go, as my lunch hour is ending, but I'll be sure to post about the trip up for the wedding.
The super secret project is plodding along. I've finally forced myself to complete a concrete summary/strip-by-strip outline of the story, because bits keep evolving in my head, and if I just let it go on I will never finish this. Most of the summary is complete; I'm just fidding with how things will go during the climax, as there are many threads to tie in and I might need a short flashback to lead up to it (and I'm not sure how to integrate that yet without disturbing the flow of the narrative). I'm also looking at comic books and artists I enjoy in order to nail down the overall look. I have some ideas (and all the characters but one are nailed down), but I'll need to experiment a bit before I find what fits. Normally my style is fairly static, but I would love to put much more energy into my lines and images, like Dave McKean, Craig Thompson, and a few others I can't quite remember off the top of my head.
Michael and I ended up watching a show about Picasso on BBC1 last night, and it was amazing and inspiring. His paintings are another reason I want to try to capture more emotion and energy in my work. I also now have a really strong desire to paint again, on large canvases; maybe even try oils. And learning that Picasso worked in so many varied mediums (more than I knew he had) makes me worry less about the fact that I like to create so many different kinds of things. It made me want to work with fimo clay again, too, and get my Etsy store back up and running with new products. I'll be working towards that over the next few weeks.
We're heading off to a wedding in Glasgow next weekend (volcanic ash permitting). It'll be my first trip to Scotland! Yay! And I met a good chunk of people that are going to be there this past weekend at a housewarming party, so I won't feel as awkward as I could have. This is good.
The weekend after the wedding, we're having a party of our own for Eurovision! It's my first one ever. I still don't quite get it, but it seems like good, awful fun. There will also be much Rock Band and SingStar and crazy board games and (of course) Doctor Who. Because we're all nerds.
So that's how things are going at the moment. I've got to go, as my lunch hour is ending, but I'll be sure to post about the trip up for the wedding.
Monday, April 19, 2010
Working hard for the money! also: Politics!
So hard for it honey! Yep. I've been at this full time job for three weeks now. I'm still trying to adjust to my new schedule. (It's hard to go from being unemployed for six months to working full time.) I'm actually really enjoying being back at a desk again, and being surrounded by people instead of being alone in the house.
I've been working on a super secret project for a long while now; at least for the last month, if not longer. The process has slowed down a bit since I started working again, but it's coming along quite nicely. It's a comics project, and it will be posted on the web. That's all I'll give away. Right now I'm still in the middle of finalizing character designs. The main outline of the first story arc is written, and I'll begin thumbnailing soon. I probably won't be posting anything up on the web until I've completed the first arc and am well into the process of working on the second, just so I can see how long each bit of the process takes.
I'm really excited about it, as it's the first time I've put so much work into a comic. The story for the first arc is pretty solid as well, and has a theme and everything! I feel like I'm doing proper work for once. And it's weird not to talk to anyone about it (save my husband and a close friend), but I think that it's been very beneficial for me not to. So... watch this space. I will update about how the process is going along, as well as when the project will finally go live.
I experienced a historical event here in the UK last week. On Thursday evening, I (and millions of other viewers) watched the first ever televised Prime Ministerial debate. I'd only just become interested in the debate process back during the 2008 US Presidential campaign, to be honest, especially the first ever Vice Presidential debate between Joe biden and Sarah Palin.
At first, the British politicians (Gordon Brown for the Labour Party, who is the current PM; David Cameron for the Conservatives; and Nick Clegg for the Liberal Democrats) seemed a bit stiff and extra formal. I found myself wondering when (or even if) the debate would heat up and they would start speaking over one another. Amusingly, it didn't take as long as I'd thought. There was a LOT of back and forth, a few deep digs (seeing Gordon Brown verbally flip off David Cameron was a highlight for me), and anecdote after anecdote (mainly from David Cameron). Nick Clegg made a grand showing, and proved to both Labour and the Conservatives that he was much more of a viable choice for voters than either opposing party ever thought possible.
In light of the public opinion polls after the debates, it looks as though the Liberal Democrats have a really good chance of winning the election. Before the debate? It was split nearly evenly between Labour and the Conservatives. This revelation was the most interesting thing to come out of the debate for me. Not only because a third party is seriously in the running here in the UK, but the fact that perhaps the US might take notice and we'll see a third party candidate who actually has a shot at winning in the next couple of decades. And perhaps the mentality that voting for a third party is a wasted vote will diminish.
It may not happen, but one can hope.
* * *
I've been working on a super secret project for a long while now; at least for the last month, if not longer. The process has slowed down a bit since I started working again, but it's coming along quite nicely. It's a comics project, and it will be posted on the web. That's all I'll give away. Right now I'm still in the middle of finalizing character designs. The main outline of the first story arc is written, and I'll begin thumbnailing soon. I probably won't be posting anything up on the web until I've completed the first arc and am well into the process of working on the second, just so I can see how long each bit of the process takes.
I'm really excited about it, as it's the first time I've put so much work into a comic. The story for the first arc is pretty solid as well, and has a theme and everything! I feel like I'm doing proper work for once. And it's weird not to talk to anyone about it (save my husband and a close friend), but I think that it's been very beneficial for me not to. So... watch this space. I will update about how the process is going along, as well as when the project will finally go live.
* * *
I experienced a historical event here in the UK last week. On Thursday evening, I (and millions of other viewers) watched the first ever televised Prime Ministerial debate. I'd only just become interested in the debate process back during the 2008 US Presidential campaign, to be honest, especially the first ever Vice Presidential debate between Joe biden and Sarah Palin.
At first, the British politicians (Gordon Brown for the Labour Party, who is the current PM; David Cameron for the Conservatives; and Nick Clegg for the Liberal Democrats) seemed a bit stiff and extra formal. I found myself wondering when (or even if) the debate would heat up and they would start speaking over one another. Amusingly, it didn't take as long as I'd thought. There was a LOT of back and forth, a few deep digs (seeing Gordon Brown verbally flip off David Cameron was a highlight for me), and anecdote after anecdote (mainly from David Cameron). Nick Clegg made a grand showing, and proved to both Labour and the Conservatives that he was much more of a viable choice for voters than either opposing party ever thought possible.
In light of the public opinion polls after the debates, it looks as though the Liberal Democrats have a really good chance of winning the election. Before the debate? It was split nearly evenly between Labour and the Conservatives. This revelation was the most interesting thing to come out of the debate for me. Not only because a third party is seriously in the running here in the UK, but the fact that perhaps the US might take notice and we'll see a third party candidate who actually has a shot at winning in the next couple of decades. And perhaps the mentality that voting for a third party is a wasted vote will diminish.
It may not happen, but one can hope.
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