According to the National Retail Federation in the U.S., the most popular costume for Halloween for adults this year will be a witch outfit. *yawn*

What amused me more was to see that the pimp costume got the 19th place, even though whore is nowhere to be found on the list.

via Typo Negative

“Most of us feel the need to describe how we came to be what we are. We want to make our stories known, and we want to believe those stories carry value. To discover we have no story is to acknowledge that our existence is meaningless, which we may find unbearable. […]

When we make stories, when we turn raw events into personal sagas, parables, tales, and anecdotes, we are often struggling to come to terms with one of the inescapably difficult and puzzling facts of existence. Storytelling is an attempt to deal with and at least partly contain the terrifyingly haphazard quality of life. Large parts of life, sometimes the most crucial parts, depend on random happenings, contingency. […]

We can choose to search for a divine intention in everything; or, if we have attained a degree of serenity by some other means, we can simply accept contingency as a beautiful mystery that will always be part of life. Or we may decline to accept it, and instead look for patterns, plots, meanings. That’s what story provide. […]

But if it is understanding we yearn for, why isn’t analysis good enough? Why can’t we simply study our experience rather than recounting it chronologically?

The answer is that narrative, as opposed to analysis, has the power to mimic the unfolding of reality. Narrative is selective, and may be untrue, but it can produce the feeling of events occurring in time; it seems to be rooted in reality. This is also the reason for the triumph of narrative, its penetration and in some ways its dominance of our collective imagination: with a combination of ancient devices and up-to-the-minute technology, it can appear to replicate life.”

From The Triumph of Narrative, storytelling in the Age of Mass Culture, by Robert Fulford.

(Thanks for recommending this great book, which I’m finally starting to read now.)

“Underneath all the banter and bawdiness, the beating heart of a good rom-com is its delivery of how it feels to fall in love — in all its breathless, messy-crazed excitement.”

From Living the Romantic Comedy.

To mark the 60th birthday of the Central Office of Information (COI), The National Archives in the U.K. have released a series of 60 old public information films. These short pieces, covering subject such as how to sneeze in a hankie and how to deal with post-war austerity, were once broadcast in cinemas across the country.

Personally, I think they should start airing the one about learning how to cross the street to movie and television audiences in Montreal. (That’s good for BOTH pedestrians and drivers. Ever heard of crosswalks, people?)

Go watch them. They’re hilarious.

via BBC News

You know you have serious issues about getting older when you find a query for “old naked women” in your referrer log and you take it personal.

Then again, to be fair to myself, I also just found “perfect ass girl” in my referrer log. Why can’t I take this personal too?

(Please don’t answer that question. It’s just rhetorical.)

J’entre � nouveau dans une phase intensive d’�criture, avec deux grosses �ch�ances � rencontrer en novembre. �a veut dire de longues journ�es de travail � l’ordinateur, en m’isolant le plus possible du reste du monde (incluant le t�l�phone) et en travaillant aussi les soirs et les fins de semaine.

Je me suis lev�e avec un peu d’angoisse au ventre, comme une petite douleur de d�but de quelque chose, comme une voix de m�re stressante qui insiste pour qu’on commence � faire nos devoirs: Oh my god, I’m never going to be able to meet all these deadlines. (Oui, mon angoisse me parle en anglais. C’est commun chez beaucoup de qu�b�cois avec un pass� ind�pendantiste.)

Mon pr�cieux chef a pass� la journ�e de dimanche � faire de la bouffe pour la semaine, de bons petits plats que je mange seule en �coutant 275-allo � la radio pendant que son horaire social charg� le garde en ville presque tous les soirs cette semaine. Coincidence? Permettez-moi d’en douter. Il devait s�rement se rappeler que je ne suis pas du monde quand j’entre dans ce genre de blitz de travail. Mieux vaut se tenir loin.

Le Mini lui, clou� � la maison au repos forc� par le v�t�rinaire, n’�coute que son courage et son grand ennui et m’emmerde royalement en jetant par terre tous les objets qu’il trouve sur mon bureau. Quand je range les objets hors de sa port�e, il se consacre alors � ses nombreux points de suture qu’il n’a bien s�r pas le droit de toucher. On peut toujours compter sur un chat pour nous forcer � prendre une pause et � nous consacrer � autre chose que le travail.

La pluie incessante m’emp�che d’aller prendre mes marches de sant�, celles qui me gardent habituellement saine d’esprit lors de ces grosses p�riodes de travail. Je ne r�ponds donc plus de rien.

…

Bon, je viens tout de m�me de r�pondre au t�l�phone. Mon chef cuisinier veut rentrer � la maison et comme il ne me reste plus rien � bouffer, � part des trucs en bo�te, je devrais probablement publier ce billet et aller le chercher � la station de m�tro. Le Mini va pouvoir en profiter pour jeter tous mes papiers par terre.

Heureusement qu’il y a de l’action dans le sc�nario que j’�cris parce que dans ma vie…

Le temps est moche. Tr�s moche. Vous avez envie de soleil? De chaleur? De sable chaud dans vos bottes? Enr�lez-vous!

“As cheaper technology and a seemingly inexhaustible hipness quotient have led to more filmmakers and films being produced, theatrical distribution has become more expensive, the outlets more cautious, and the returns on investments more dubious. […]

That’s where IndieFlix, founded by Ms. Andreen and her business partner, the filmmaker Gian-Carlo Scandiuzzi, comes in. Directors submit their films, which are then posted on the Web site. When users log on and click to buy the films that capture their interest, IndieFlix burns them onto a DVD and ships them out. The price for a feature-length film is $9.95.”

From Once It Was Direct to Video, Now It’s Direct to the Web in the New York Times.

Google also has a video upload section (still in beta) and eventually people will be able to sell their videos using their service.

Dans ma famille, on a d�cid� de f�ter les “gros” anniversaires en grand: les 50 ans de mon fr�re et de ma soeur, les 40 ans de mon autre soeur, les 30 ans de ma ni�ce, etc. Mon quaranti�me anniversaire arrive dans 7 mois et on m’a d�j� demand� d’offrir quelques id�es pour inspirer ma famille et mon amoureux dans la pr�paration de ce grand �v�nement.

Ben euh… je voulais juste vous dire que �A, �a m’inspire beaucoup.

Je dis �a comme �a. C’est juste une id�e.

The Use of Computers in Movies

Yikes… I know movies have to take short cuts but some of them are just too scary (and funny).

I get small anxiety attacks when I think about what a director could do with the Mafiaboy screenplay I wrote. The producer has promised me that if/when the movie gets made, they will hire an “interface specialist” to make sure that the computer shots will be realistic. Screwing up the tech elements in this movie would be really embarrassing.

Then again, it didn’t keep people from going to see The Net or Hackers.

via Le French Touch