Chris Nicholson's Writing Weblog
November 29, 2004 • Monday
In the category of People With Interesting Ways to Kill Time, here's a website to check out: Star Wars ASCIImation. The site features almost the whole of the film Star Wars animated with ASCII text. You'll have to see it yourself to appreciate the obscene number of mind-numbing hours that went into creating it. And it was all done by one person: Simon Jansen of New Zealand. Bravo, Simon.
There's a great new article in American Journalism Review about the challenges that female sportswriters face in their male-dominated field. "Offensive Interference," by Sherry Ricchiardi, explores issues ranging from locker-room abuse to glass ceilings to reader acceptance. This quote from the article best summarizes one of the key issues:
"Female sportswriters often have been targets, says [sports sociologist Mary Jo] Kane, because they have 'backstage access' to one of the most powerful and revered symbols of male superiority in American culture, coupled with a public voice, through the media, to criticize men. That, she concludes, places them in a unique position regarding the power relationship between the sexes."
PNC Advisors has released its annual holiday economic analysis of how much it would cost to buy your truelove all the gifts from the song "The 12 Days of Christmas." In their press release, PNC reports the 2004 cost — if you were to buy everything on the 12-day shopping list, from the 12 drummers drumming to the one partridge in the one pear tree (12 times over) — as $66,334. That kind of makes me happy that I don't have a truelove this Christmas.
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November 28, 2004 • Sunday
I'm a few weeks behind on this one, but I just learned about a new television series called Drawn Together. It's an animated reality TV show. Brilliant.
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November 22, 2004 • Monday
This weekend I finished reading the book Selkirk's Island, by London writer Diana Souhami. The book chronicles the story of Alexander Selkirk, the Scottish ocean navigator who was marooned on an island off the coast of Chile from 1704 to 1709. Selkirk's tale of survival was the basis of Daniel Defoe's classic literary figure Robinson Crusoe.
Selkirk's Island was published in 2001. I bought a copy of the book soon thereafter, but just got around to reading it this month. (I do that often — buy a book because I know I'll want to read it in the future.) I found Souhami's story-telling strategy somewhat quizzical. I read the paperback version of the book, of which the story consumes 222 pages. The main character isn't even mentioned until page 48; he's marooned on page 85; he's rescued on page 133. His time on the island, the crux of interest in his life story, accounts for less than 50 pages of text, less than 25 percent of the book.
Brevity of crisis aside, Selkirk's Island is a thorough report on the life of a man whose ordeal arguably helped shape modern fiction. The book is an intriguing read, especially for those interested in history, 18th-century seafaring life, or classic literature.
On another note, the newest class of Rhodes Scholars has been announced. I'm not on the list.
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November 12, 2004 • Friday
A travel story on CNN.com today reports on how Civil War re-enactments have become such a tourist attraction that some towns are subsidizing the events. (See "Civil War re-enactments foster tourism.")
Why do I mention this? Because it reminds me of one of my favorite non-fiction books, Confederates in the Attic, by Tony Horwitz. In a nutshell, the book follows Horwitz while he drives around the southern United States asking people why they're still mad about the Civil War. He also researches and reports on people so fanatic about holding onto to that part of our history that they periodically live as Civil War-era soldiers, dressing in period clothes, eating period food, and partaking in mock battles to commemorate our forefathers who fought in the war.
These people, in many circles, are mainly made fun of. But after reading Horwitz' book, I better appreciate the passion that drives them to what they do.
The book is a great read. It's funny. It's insightful. It's downright interesting. I learned much about the Civil War that my grammar school teachers never mentioned. And after reading Confederates ..., I stopped wondering why southerners don't "just get over it."
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November 11, 2004 • Thursday
ABC television affiliates in over 20 markets are refusing to air tonight's Veteran's Day broadcast of the movie Saving Private Ryan because they fear fines from the Federal Communication Commission (FCC). (See the Washington Post article.)
In accordance of their agreement with director Stephen Spielberg, ABC is airing the movie unedited — graphic violence and profanity included.
But Saving Private Ryan is not a showcase for violence and profanity that's gratuitous; it's a top-rate historical film that depicts the brutal realities of war. It's not a pale excuse to put sophomoric debauchery in front of a paying audience; it's one of the best films made by one of the best directors of our time. It's honest. It's poignant. It's educational.
When television stations are afraid of airing this movie — not because they fear the reaction of their audience, but because they fear retribution from a government agency — that's when we've crossed the line to censorship. That's when the FCC should know it's gone too far in "protecting" the innocence of America's airwaves.
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November 09, 2004 • Tuesday
A very happy birthday to my dad, who turns 57 today.
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November 06, 2004 • Saturday
Last night I saw Sarah Brightman in concert in Bridgeport, Connecticut. I doubt I ever would have seen her through my own ambition; I was there only because my friend Frank had an extra ticket.
The concert is fantastic. Not only is Brightman a world-class singer (which I already knew), but her show — everything from her persona to her "harem" dancers to the lighting and the sets — is a piece of art. Even the visual aspect alone is amazing: The experience is like watching beautiful photographs in motion, set to a soundtrack of angelic music.
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November 04, 2004 • Thursday
My friend Ilene Wong, a doctor at Stanford and a talented writer, recently had a piece published in the San Francisco Chronicle. Titled "Rocking 'n' Rolling," the article follows the story of a Bay Area bassist who has heartily adapted to life without his amputated legs and fingers.
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