Mood:  don't ask

Alright, this one's gonna be interesting, so... well... bear with me a time...

I read a recent online article by Newsweek deploring what they call America's "Fat Hatred" (and no: not just hatred of fat, but specifically the non-obeses' hatred of fat people)

The article interested me because... well... not that I'm an all-around paragon of 'tolerance' in other respects, but Shane does, in fact, actually 'hate' fat people. It's not that I'm mean-spirited in public, or desire to openly ridicule people (far from it), but in my heart-of-hearts, when I see some relative behemoth strutting in public before me, I feel something quite strongly: it is, in fact, a hatred.

By 'hate' I mean I demonstrate a somewhat 'latent animosity' towards the obese or the general 'logie' (it means what it sounds, basically). I have for awhile, now, actually, and in point of fact most of the reasons the article speculates for why non-obese people hate fat people are quite spot-on for me: it does a rather good job of explaining some of the rationale, there, for why certain people might despise the grossly overweight.

However, in all fairness, I have some problems with this article...

Firstly, the tone clearly indicates that this feeling is irrational and meanspirited. I don't really think it is. The piece goes to great lengths to try to explain that many (nay: ALL, even!) fat people are fat not from choice but from chance (ie: 'genetics', that great catch-all for explaining away all of life's pressing problems...)

One of the doctors (doctors!) quoted in the article explains that many Americans operate under the 'misconception' that it's all about 'calories in and calories out': that getting rid of fat is as simple as that, and that it's really not.

That argument, he claims, is too simplistic.

...excuse me? What the F**k?

Alright: biologically speaking (hell: mathmatically speaking!) if person X takes in Y number of calories from his environment each day, but expends Y-times-1.5 that number of calories in physical activity and general energy expenditure, there is absolutely no way in heaven or on earth that he can maintain his body mass. It is absolutely, mathmatically impossible: weight will have to be lost in the long run.

It's true... really. I don't really have a head for numbers, but I'm pretty sure my equation is spot-on, here. Double-check my math, if you're so inclined...

Now: do genetics play a part in fat-intake and weight gain? Oh, absolutely 100-percent undoubtedly. Here's a cold, hard fact: it's gonna be a hell of a lot easier for some people to maintain a decent weight than others.

For others? Well: it can be a damned struggle, I'm sure.

Here's my problem with fat people... I think...

If I were a house (figuratively speaking), and my body were bloated to dramatically oversized proportions, I would do anything I could under God's yellow sun to rectify the problem. I honestly couldn't live the way I see some people living their lives. I don't, in the final analysis, understand how some people can live the way they do...

(DISCLAIMER: Shane does not mean to imply that he is a) Adonis come to life or b) completely without a small bit of a stomach himself. Shane works out, yes, but there are, I'm sure, many fitness-Nazis out there that would feel the same way about me, I know, but the degree of difference we're talking about here is like comparing Eros to the Moon)

And, yeah: Eros is even oblong and not totally round, so that simile works on a few different levels... well... two, at least...

No one's arguing that getting a curvy body down to proper size isn't a struggle! What I would argue is that, short of a very, very, very, very, very limited number of people with strange and rare hormone disorders, etc... every other overweight person on this planet does have the power to fix their problem: it takes pain, it takes sweat and, yes indeed, discipline.

To suggest anything other than that is to (in my humble opinion) expand the already loose definition of 'victimhood' and (ironically) disempower people from the necessary need to take serious, arduous personal challenges on head-on.

Yeah: genes are powerful, and they certainly have a say in how your life unfolds, but they don't damn-well get the last word (unless, of course, they sometimes do...)

I really think that Naomi Hunter put it best in the original Metal Gear Solid:

"You mustn't allow yourself to be chained to fate, to be ruled by your genes. Human beings can choose the kind of life that they want to live. What's important is that you choose life... and then live."

 I like to think that my chromosomes work for me, not the other way around (and no: we're not going to be getting into that debate, here).

That said, I'd personally love to see all the 200-lb-plus families (kiddies included) barely wedged into that corner booth at my local Dairy Queen put down their f**king 'Blizzards' * and skip some rope together...

But that's 'cause I'm a 'hater', I suppose...

* (Yeah: Shane is actually slurping down the remnants of a large Heath-Bar-Crunch Blizzard as he types this... owing to the 12 miles of running/cycling I've done today, though, I think my body's gonna manage to stay a little more 'Erotian' than others, in the long run, regardless of what my chromosomes may have to say about it.)

Posted by shanekentknolltrey at 1:32 AM ADT

Updated: Saturday, 29 August 2009 1:51 AM ADT

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Mood:  chatty

 How about a little more about my reasoning behind this whole Zelda sample script thing...

One of the principle things that attracts me to Ocarina of Time's storyline is the fact that, in the final analysis, a good story could be made almost entirely from the point of view of Link but which is, at its core, actually all about the eponomous princess in question.

...and just what do I mean by that?

Well, consider that in the original game, after Link awakens from his seven-year slumber (in my adaptation its actually a 12-year leave of absence, and not a magical suspended-animation trick) his warrior friend 'Sheik' follows him around- happy-go-lucky, almost- giving advice to Link as he goes on his little quest...

Considering what Zelda did as a kid, and the little mistake she made that caused her people such unimaginable horror under the rule of Ganondorf... I find this characterization a little 'off': 'Sheik' should be a character absolutely consumed with guilt and (in my adaptation) one that harbors fairly intense personally-destructive characterists.

 And, of course, the one person 'Sheik' hates most would have to be the Princess of Hyrule.

So far my story deviates in several other ways: in the video game the kids are about 10 and the adults about 17, or so. My timeline has the kids (Link and Zelda, at least) a little younger- around 8ish, although Malon is slightly older- and their older counterparts about 20ish.

Also, whereas the original game involved actual, physical timetravel on Link's part, I handle the whole process a little... 'differently'...

Probably my greatest sin (for nitpicky fanboys out there) is that I gave the 'Master Sword' a proper name:

 Strange name, huh? Well: that's just the cumbersome old 'Ancient Hylian' langugage, for you...

I meant to talk about District 9, here, too, and a certain film critic I've noticed doing some really weird things, too, but that'll have to wait a day, I think: Shane's plate is full at the moment, and its not even 4:00 AM yet!

Posted by shanekentknolltrey at 6:05 AM ADT

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Mood:  a-ok

Hi, there. My name's Shane...

...that seems an appropriate way to start an entry when one has abandoned their poor little blog to rot for... what is it, now: seven months, give or take?

By now, quite rightly, most no one is reading this post other than Googlers whose search engine has led them a bit astray (and no: I don't SELL 'Cotton Thistle' here, nor do I know anything about 'removing Cotton Thistle' from your landscaping projects).

Got a slew of emails in my absence, which was kinda nice (always pleasant when people are the least bit curious about whether one's dead or not). In my case I didn't die, but I did have a... well, 'medical issue', let's say, that put me in a damn-dour mood.

(No: not cancer, or scabies, or rabies, or anything affecting life and limb. Shane's fine, thank you very much... physically, at least...)

Bottom line: I didn't feel like talking much to anyone outside my... well, real life experience, and wouldn't you know that 'real life' is interfering with my digital pursuits more and more often these days... er... months...

That said, I don't really want this thing to 'die', however one describes it, and the way I see it the only way it CAN die is if I stop altogether. So I won't. I think we'll keep moving, here.

What have I been up to lately, you ask? Lots 'n lots of work on TYPERS, as always, but a ton of 'big picture' stuff (ie: not alot of actual progress on the next actual chapter...) That story, of course, consumes me, and I'm fermenting it quite well in my mind...

Truth be told, there is ONE project I've been devoting quite a bit of time to in the past two months.

Wanna know what it is?

You gotta promise you won't laugh...

Promise?

...well, given that all I hear are crickets out my window, here it is:

...yeah... I'm being serious... seriously... and NO ONE out there does Zelda Fanfiction, do they? My originality is simply staggering!

 The "OOT" storyline that's been swirling around in my head reached 'critical mass' some months ago: I had to do something...

'Something' in this case implies writing a screenplay... despite the fact that I don't know HOW to write a screenplay (some would argue I don't even know how to write a book, but that's another story...)

It's precisely 200-pages-long now (doesn't tell you much because, again, I'm less than a neophyte at writing these things and I take up way too much time detailing stage direction and scenery, I'm sure), with what I like to think are about equal parts 'sweet' and 'sour' notes to it, and at present it's sitting somewhere between a hard PG-13 rating and an R rating...

...hey: if the Dark Knight can con the MPAA into giving them a lesser rating by just not showing any blood, imagine what else is possible in that PG-13 bracket? Of course my Zelda story currently has two 'scenes of torture' (as the ratings bars before films these days now declare, I note) so maybe my OOT adaptation's doomed to an R-Rating from the start...

Waaah, waaah, waaah!

Truth is that I really want to be done with this thing. Once I am I'll damn-well post it to cyberspace and hopefully have that be the end of it: it's a neat little take on the game (not to be immodest) and I guess my main impetus for creating it is to show-off to whatever slimeball producers end up MAKING a Zelda film that it could've been done somewhat decently (I only predict- probably correctly, too- that any Zelda film that does get made someday will be worse than my darkest fears imagine), but I really do have more important things to attend to...

...and look here: I'm wrapping up one of those things, right now!

Posted by shanekentknolltrey at 2:05 AM ADT

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Mood:  not sure

Well over a month since my last post, huh?

I've decided to get on a more regular schedule with this thing: one post at least every other day. Hopefully such a structure will keep me 'regular', more'n a diet of fiber, anyway...

Before I forget, the latest chapter of TYPERS is up on the main site and I'm currently at work on the last two chapters that'll bring "His Moral Antipathy" to a close, and subsequently set the stage for "The Stars Over Heaven" and the final climactic adventures of the Tears' Shower Squadron (again... there's still QUITE a bit to go... cramming everything into 3 books is still my main concern...)

Wanna see the artwork for the next chapter? (Don't answer, it's a rhetorical question...):

Not much of a looker, eh? Way I see it, most of the chapter images in HMA have been far more elaborate than those in The Galilean's Shame, so I'm due for a little slacking.

Also, quite honestly, given the subjectmatter, that's one of the more accurate images I could use for a chapter head. Coulda done more with it, but again: I'm due some slacking in the artistic department...

Posted by shanekentknolltrey at 3:50 PM MNT

Updated: Sunday, 25 January 2009 4:01 PM MNT

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Mood:  lazy

Updates have been sparse recently, huh?

Well there are reasons for that. For one, Shane recently got himself a new toy.

It tends to suck at the free time, if you know what I mean (and other nifty add-ons tend to suck at the wallet, too...)

Posted by shanekentknolltrey at 3:54 AM MNT

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Mood:  accident prone

...

Okay...

Now, Shane considers himself a "runner"...

I can run pretty fast, and pretty far, too. I won't qualify for any track meets anytime soon, but let's just say that I can cover 12 miles in a day, if I'm pressed to...

So, when I started this whole running thing, the first thing that got me was Jogger's Thigh (I won't go into the details of that one, thank you very much...) then there was Jogger's Nipple...

I resolved both those issues in short order, care of a little friend I like to call petroleum jelly (again, details are unnecessary...)

Now it's this thing!

"Iliotibial Band Syndrome", they call it. Along with this "Snapping Hip Syndrome"...

God da*m it!

Talk about pain, too. Now, whatever it is that goes into the so-called "Runner's High", be it endorphines or whatever else, it's something real, 'cause I don't feel the pain until well after I do the damage. And the pain is something else. I've even recieved some comments about that "popping" sound coming from my right hip.

I've only got myself to blame, anyway. The only thing that cures this IBS (not "that" IBS, either...) is a certain activity that I've apparently not been doing enough of.

Just a reminder: stretching ain't exactly useless, in the grand scheme of things...

Posted by shanekentknolltrey at 11:31 PM MNT

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Mood:  bright

This is a good movie...

In fact, it's one damned fine film, indeed.

Go see it, if you haven't. Sweedish, this, and of course one has to be able to read subtitles (given the current state of 'average' intelligence, that can be a stretch these days...)

Anyway: Let the Right One In. Vampire movie, that, but that's a misnomer that only scratches the surface of the themes and moods the movie wants to elicit. Like any well-crafted art it transcends the trappings of any genre you might want to place it in and hammers you in the teeth with neato drama (and rather fine acting by the girl vampire... who's actually a boy, apparently, according to the novel upon which it's based, I think...)

...hmmmm...

And the boy actor who's supposed to be a real boy is a bit of a dramatic drag, but hey: nothing's perfect.

Well, the central tenant of the film does somewhat tug at my own heartstrings: as someone actively trying to make a genre story that transcends its own trappings  (couldn't resist the segue) I'm attracted by the idea.

This is a grown-ups' version of that trashy "Twilight" nonsense that got its start from prepubescent fangirls pouring over their internet chatrooms and fansites. Ironically that book series focuses on characters on the cusp of maturation, and is written for mentally-disabled fangirls, while this movie (Let the Right One In) focuses on a pair of 12-year-olds but delves into waters more suited for people with all their marbles in their head (or at least most of 'em... a few of mine are rattling around under my couch...)

And, of course, when I say "12-year-olds", you have to remember that one of them has apparently been 12 for "a very, very long time..."

Just go see the damned thing, if you can. It's not the Merchant of Venice, but it is intelligent. And in an age of nearly unabated idiocy from our Hollywood, it's most certainly the right film to come out of the cold for.

Posted by shanekentknolltrey at 1:45 AM MNT

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So what're the perks of associatin' with a BYDO organism for an extended period of time?

It can f**k up your genetic code and seriously tweak your 'human limitations'...

And what're the downsides to associating with a BYDO organism?...

...It can f**k up your genetic code and seriously tweak your 'human limitations'...

Yeah...

Anyway, this is more of a 'stylized' look at the TSS demon forms (with faces 'half-changed', and all that...) When I say 'stylized', it's a fancy way of saying that I don't have the artistic hoo-haas to put together a more... uh... 'accurate' picture of what the trio would look like.

Interesting side-note: the mesh overlayed on Samantha's face is a chain mail stock image, the marring on Chenine's mug a texture ripped from a picture of duct tape (and all the razzle-dazzle on her body, including the protowings, ripped from a series of fractal art images...), and the spines on Justin's dark side courtesy of a picture of a rose.

I'm nothing if not symbolic...

Don't know if I like how everything turned out, exactly...

But I do know that I like saying 'protowinged'.

Hell, I even like typing the word 'protowinged'...

"protowinged, protowinged, protowinged, protowinged, protowinged"...

Right, I'm got that out of my system, I think.

Posted by shanekentknolltrey at 9:53 PM MNT

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Mood:  cool

T'art (TYPERS art...): it's what's for dinner.

My latest personal artistic challenge is rendering up the demonic/"Novanjo" forms of my protagonists (ie: the Czech Hedgehog, Bound Angel and Sabre Dancer).

Easiest first. This one's still a work-in-progess and the full image also contains a juxtaposition with Justin Storm's more human form, but the idea is to eventually make a nifty flash file with lighting going back and forth. This would be one 'half' of the finished product, then (I've blacked out the parts that aren't tweaked out, yet)...

...meh.

Chenine and Samantha's demonic forms will provide more of a challenge, I'd think...

Posted by shanekentknolltrey at 3:47 PM MNT

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