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Archive for the '.NET' Category
System.Web.VirtualPathUtility.ToAbsolute("~") does the job of ResolveUrl on the server side.
This is posted as a reminder.
I recently upgraded my VS2008 to Service Pack 1 which was a combined update to .NET Framework 3.5 also to SP1. I did update to try my hand in ASP.NET MVC architecture.
I am working on a couple of projects that are using ASP.NET AJAX these days. And after doing this update I started noticing strange issues in pages using AJAX extenders.
First I noticed that the pages containing the AJAX extensions were throwing strange errors. They were usually in the form of "Cannot set value True for property enabled". This caught me quite by surprise and made me review the HTML over and over.
Once I was sure that there was nothing wrong in the way that the properties were set, and these were pages that were working perfectly, I realized something would have happened after applying the service pack. But I could not find a lot of useful information directly documenting this issue. Most of the issues were reported on the user controls behaving in a similar manner.
After quite a bit of Googling and putting 2 and 2 together I managed to solve it by applying ANOTHER hotfix. This is where I found most of the info from: https://connect.microsoft.com/VisualStudio/feedback/Workaround.aspx?FeedbackID=361826
This is the hotfix that solved it for me: http://code.msdn.microsoft.com/KB967535
Hope this helps someone out there to avoid the mess I was in which resulted in a few hours worth of work just before a major deadline!
After a long silence on the moBlog front I finally got sometime to work on moBlog. The following are the enhancements done to moBlog:
Ability to work with published posts
Now moBlog allows you to retrieve the latest 20 published posts in your blog. After retrieval, you can amend and re-publish them via moBlog. You can also delete a published post after retrieval. You can retrieve the published posts via the Open Posts option. In that screen there is a drop down on top of the screen with the following options:
- Saved Posts – locally saved un-published posts
- Published Posts – retrieves the latest 20 posts published on your blog.
Please note that moBlog does not locally store the published posts, so every time you choose the Published Posts option, moBlog retrieves the posts directly from your blog. So if you are charged for the amount of data you are using, be mindful of that.
Editing Enhancements
Now moBlog allows you to bold, underline and italicize your post content body. moBlog would insert HTML tags to the body so i advice you to do these actions at last otherwise your body will start to look like a HTML code!
Removal of 'Posted by moBlog'
I used this pingback to promote moBlog. But since most of you have complained about it, I decided to remove it. Besides I could not figure out the actual visitors to my site and the pingbacks!
Hope everyone would give this new release a try as well. I have done a bit of tweaks to make blogging from moBlog easier and given more power to authors to post better formatted posts. I personally am not very fond of the text editors that are being used on moBlog, but in the absense of a better, more powerful and FREE editor control that can be used on .NETCF, I am left with no other alternatives. If someone can point me towards an editor that can be used, I'll be happy to incorporate that into moBlog.
Please download release 2.2 from HERE
Happy moBile Blogging with moBlog!
I have been an ardent and a loyal Windows Mobile user. There were several reasons for this loyalty. I come from a development background that is heavily biased towards Microsoft (read .NET). With this back ground I found it quite easy to develop a few applications for the Windows Mobile platform using .NETCF. So whenever I had the option to upgrade my mobile, I went for a Windows Mobile device.
But since I was given a Blackberry Curve in my current job I have fallen in love with the Blackberry. One of the facts that I love about it is the fact that the OS is more biased towards the usual phone style. Windows Mobile OS is more biased towards the usual computer navigation style.
And the other thing is it is definitely a lot better for Email on the GO. With Windows Mobile, you need to initiate an operation to check for new Mail. I know there are solutions to provide Push Email on Windows MObile as well, but these usually require special software and additional configurations to get them to work. At least I never could get Push Email to work on my earlier Windows Mobile device.
And the BB is a lot lighter and sleeker than most of the Windows Mobile devices. It is definitely aesthetically more pleasing than the Windows Mobile device I had and a hell of a lot lighter.
My next step is to port my mobile application development knowledge to the BB platform so I can write a few apps for the device. Most of the applications that were a bit hard to find for the Windows Mobile devices were easy to find for the BB. But still there are a few that I could not still find. So hopefully I will be able to fill that gap, starting off with the applications that I would like to have on my BB!
My only hope was that there was some kind of an emulator which allows to run .NETCF applications on the BB. Now that would be superb. That way, I wont have to learn java to write apps for my BB. Do you know of anything like that?
A couple of weeks ago I got a new laptop from office. It is a Dell Latitude D630 running Vista Business. I didn't get much time to setup the machine, just did the bare essentials to do my day to day work. And during the last long weekend, since I had sometime in my hands, I started setting up my development environments on it.
I started off with Visual Studio 2003 as the main solution that I need to support on my new job is a ASP.NET 1.1 application. Through officially VS2003 is not supported on Vista, I managed to install and run it on my machine. I still havent done any debugging or anything yet, but hope I wont face much issues. In case I do, i do have another laptop running Windows XP, on which I have installed VS2003.
Then came my favourite IDE, VS2005. Installed the Professional Edition and WM5 SDK's and tried to do some changes to moBlog. Managed to do the changes, but was not able to test it as I could not get the emulator to connect to the Internet. Also, since I have switched my mobile also to a Blackberry I did not have a device to test it on either.
Ended up installing an untold number of software on my laptop including Virtual PC, patches, WM6 SDK's, you name it. But still I cannot get my emulator to connect to the Internet. The Windows Mobile Device Center (WMDC) only started to recognize the cradling of the emulator after I installed MS Virtual PC. Now, when I cradle the emulator, WMDC recognizes and initiated a connection. But still I cannot browse the Internet from the emulator.
When I try to browse a web site from it, I get a message saying that "Page cannot be found. Check the name and try again". From moBlog, I get a exception saying that the remote host name cannot be resolved. I know the issue is with the connectivity between the emulator and machine. But right now I have run out of ideas. And I could not find much information on the Internet regarding connecting emulators to Internet using WMDC. All the articles refer to ActiveSync. But the information is straight forward enough to apply to WMDC, unless there are any specific things that you need to do with WMDC.
Any ideas or suggestions are welcome!
UPDATE: I allowed WMDHost (C:\Windows\WindowsMobile\WmdHost.exe) through the firewall and it happened to solve the problem. Voila! Now my .NETCF programs can connect to the Internet through the Emulator!
moBlog has had a pretty good ride. There has been about 1000 downloads of both Pocket PC and Smartphone versions.
As I mentioned in my previous post, I fixed the issues and performed a limited testing. By limited what I meant was the PPC version was tested on a device, but the Smartphone version was only tested on the emulator.
So if you want to test the new and improved moBlog, please download the required versions from the links in this page.
Posted from moBlog – mobile blogging tool for Windows Mobile
This post is to test the latest enhancements for moBlog for Smartphone with wordpress.com.
These enhancements came about as a result of listening to user feedback. Though moBlog only has a small user base, they have been pretty active in using the application, suggesting improvements and finding bugs, all of which would not have been possible, specially with the Smartphone version as I do not own an actual device.
I was earlier paranoid about releasing the software as I had not tested it on an actual device. But after reading "Getting Real" by 37Signals and also due to the limitation of me not owning a Smartphone device I was compelled to release it only after testing it on the emulator. And the user community has been wonderful in reporting issues and suggesting improvements for the application after test driving it in various devices.
Thank you Nick, Pat and all the others for finding bugs and suggesting improvements. Please do keep on sending your suggestions.
Let's make moBlog THE mobile blogging software for Windows Mobile!
Posted from moBlog – mobile blogging tool for Windows Mobile
There were several requests for a Smart Phone version of moBlog. Since the original moBlog application was designed for the Pocket PC's form factor and it had used a few PPC controls, it was not working on Smartphones. And I heard your requests for a smartphone edition of moBlog and today I am happy to announce the release of the moBlog Smpartphone Edition!
I know this release was a little bit behind the PPC editions, but the reason was that I did not want to release a stripped down edition for the Smartphones. This released edition supports all the features of the moBlog including support for embedding images for blog posts!
So those of you who were using smartphones, go ahead, give it a spin and let me know what you think.
Get moBlog for Smartphones here
moBlog 2.1.0 had an error when you were trying to setup a profile for your Blogger.com account. This was due to a careless error on my part. Thanks so much to Hans and Pat who pointed out the error to me. I have now fixed it and have released version 2.1.1.
Enjoy moBlog with photo blogging support!
moBlog now supports Photo Blogging for WordPress and Blogger platforms!
It was the most requested feature for moBlog! Support for posting photos taken with device camera's. As far as I know there aren't that many mobile blogging applications that support Photo Blogging! Hope this feature will make moBlog THE mobile blogging application!
All you smartphone users, yes I hear you. You need a moBlog version that works on Smartphones! Hey, I'm on it! Your patience will be rewarded pretty soon! Now that moBlog is complete with photo blogging, I am on the task of converting it to work on Smartphones!
As usual, moBlog is still in beta. So please let me know if you come across any issues or have any comments! Looking forward to hearing from all of you!
Posted from moBlog – mobile blogging tool for Windows Mobile
Testing photo blogging from moBlog!
Posted from moBlog – mobile blogging tool for Windows Mobile
I have been thinking about what to do next with moBlog. Since the initial release and the subsequent bug fixed version, I have been thinking about where I wanted to take moBlog.
There have been a particular feature request from the those who gave it a try. It is to enable support for posting images to their blogs. Since most of the devices come equipped with a camera this makes perfect sense as it will be great to post those pictures that you capture from your phone. Actually it was something that I also thought of doing, even initially, but differed as I wanted to get the application out as soon as possible. So it is definitely at the top of planned features list.
I have a few other features that I wanted to incorporate as well. If you have used moBlog with WordPress or Livespaces you would have noticed that moBlog currently does not support tags (or labels) for that. Tags are only supported for Blogger posts. This is because I could not figure out, at least with the client code I was using for MetaWebLog API, how to pass the Tags to the API. So this is something I want to incorporate on to a next version: option to tag wordpress/livespaces posts.
Currently moBlog is a .NET Compact Framework application. This deprives all those non Windows Mobile device users of the option to use a great mobile blogging application (do you notice me blowing my own horn here??). So I was thinking about hacking out a moBlog J2ME version as well! Now that is easier said than being done as I have not coded Java in a long long time, let alone tackle the intricacies of J2ME as well. But I think that will be a pretty good challenge for me to get on to a bit of Java coding. I am hoping that coding on Java has become as easy as it is to code on .NET. After all, Java lobby kept on saying that C# was a copy of Java, so I am hoping that those similarities will work in favor for me, coming from a C# background.
But what I actually do next will more or less depend on the user feedback that I get over the next couple of days. Either way, I think an enhanced version for WM with option to upload images will come out way before any J2ME version sees the light of the day. But if the demand for a J2ME version out weighs the enhancements for the WM version, I might consider dedicating my time on to that. What do you say?
moBlog has had a another release within the space of 2 days.
Since the initial release of moBlog, there has been over 150 downloads. Thank you for all those who gave it a spin. And a couple of bugs were also reported. As a token of appreciation to all those who gave it a spin, I fixed the bugs as quickly as possible and made another release, in order to minimize the inconveniences.
So what's new with moBlog 2.0.3?
- Bug Fix – There was a bug when you tried to open a saved post which had categories selected. This has now been fixed.
- Bug Fix – When saved posts were opened, the paragraph breaks were lost. This has now been fixed.
- Enhancement – An option to delete a saved profile.
Give this new version a spin and let me know what you think.
Happy mobile blogging!
moBlog has had about 140 downloads by now. A few people had left comments asking about how to set up moBlog as well as two bug reports.
I have found and fixed one bug that was reported, but the other I have not been able to simulate. Hopefully, I would be able to simulate the issue without inconviniencing the users!
Well this is another posting from moBlog, while in the process of testing the bug fixes!
Posted from moBlog – mobile blogging tool for Windows Mobile
msmobiles.com has just published a news item about the release of moBlog. You can find it here.
Today seems to be my release day!
Just released a new enhanced version of GMobileSync (1.3.6) which now has Proxy Support as well as a few bug fixes.
One major bug was due to Who.Rel being a required property since of late on GData API. GMS had not implemented this property before but since our last release updating GCal was failing since Who/Rel was made a required parameter. That is now fixed with 1.3.6 so your syncs should work like a charm!
Go ahead and grab yourselves the latest release and be in Sync with your WM Devices and GCAL!
Happy holidays!
It is official! Though it is in beta, moBlog is released. I have created a page for it on this blog.
Those who wanted to give it a spin, please go ahead and let me know what you think. I would love to hear your feedback and comments. Looking forward to those!
moBlog is almost ready to be released to the public. This initial release will be released as a beta software as so far the only person who tested was me. Once I receive feedback from a few more folks who are willing to give it a spin, and fix any issues if there are any, then I will take the beta tag off it!
So far moBlog works with Blogger, WordPress and Live Spaces. From a technical point of view since moBlog works on both GData API (to support Blogger.com) and Metaweblog API (to support WordPress and Live Spaces). And technically moBlog will support any other blogging platform which has support for GData API or Metaweblog API. My intention is for moBlog to support as many blogging platforms as possible. If you there is any specific blogging platform that you need moBlog to support, please let me know and I will try to get it incorporated in a subsequent release.
We'll this post is made from moBlog client itself. After a few more tests are done, hopefully within a couple of hours moBlog will have its official release!
I have been toying with the idea of creating a blogging application for the Pocket PC / Smartphone devices for sometime. i had done some extensive research on it sometime back, but due to limited time available for coding 4 fun (as I call my experimental coding activities) I had been pushing this idea away. But since I got myself a Windows Mobile phone, this need kept popping up.
My initial reaction was to go back to the applications that I had come across earlier and try them out on the phone. Well the fist one I tried refused to work on my blog unless there was an active Internet connection. This was a major limitation as I did not want to be online while I was writing my post. I know that GPRS/3G usage is charged for the actual traffic, but the downside was an active Internet connection on the phone drained the battery! So that experienced was very shortlived.
Then I did come across several other applications that allowed you to work offline, but I had small issues with them. Some I had issues setting up and running. They had exceptions. Some supported only one blog. I wanted something more as I have a couple of blogs. And I wanted my client application to support all of them without me having to delete and setup when I wanted to switch blogs.
Also, I still had the urge to develop an application myself. With my involvement in GMobileSync now I was experienced in working with the GData API as well. So I went to work on my Mobile Blogging Application: MoBlogger.
Here are a feature list:
- Multiple profiles
- Multiple Blogs within a profile. So if your blogger account has multiple blogs setup, all of them will work!
- Work Offline – you can work offline and save your posts for uploading later.
- Supports labels.
Sounds great right? Well yeah… except right now it only supports Blogger! But I am working on supporting multiple blogging platforms! The immediate platforms on the radar are WordPress.com and Windows Live Spaces.
In the mean time if you would like to have a go at it, drop me a mail, I'll be happy to send you an installation.
I have been busy and it's not just been my work! I joined an open source project on codeplex. I had this idea to create an application that would sync a Google calendar with a Pocket PC's Outlook Calendar. Then I was searching around to see whether there were similar applications around and came across GMobileSync which was an open source project on http://www.codeplex.com.
I requested the project's coordinator to accept me as a developer and I was accepted. Then I took it upon me to fix a few of the bugs that were reported on the bug list. Then Eric, who is the creator of GMobileSync, told me that if I fixed two way sync, which is the most requested feature I will become the 'hero' of the GMobileSync world! That prompted me to put in my free-time towards fixing this issue / feature and last weekend, I managed to fix that. I made a release to codeplex and Eric has since released it to about 500 beta testers. And now I am awaiting for beta test results and keeping my fingers crossed that there wont be any bugs!
Working on an open source project has been pretty exiting. For one Open Source projects will give you the largest audience for your applications. Already the release I did has had 88 downloads for the space of one week. All this time the release was not even public. It was the beta testers who were invited to download and test. Hopefully the number will go up once the release becomes public.
GMobileSync has had about 40,000 downloads. Even if 10% were actively using the application, then that would mean 4000 people. You know it feels good to have an application where there is some little contribution of yours, being used by so many people. The difference in the open source world is that people will be appreciative about your work, unlike in commercial software. In commercial software, since they pay for the software, they tend not to show their appreciation!
If you had been looking for a tool that would sync your Google Calendar with your Windows Mobile device, then give GMobileSync 1.3.5 a try! And feel free to let us know your ideas for improvements or bugs!
Finally, thanks to Eric for accepting me into the project and letting me contribute. And to Lushi for tolerating my coding sessions that went into late in to the night 🙂
I am not a great fan of third party control libraries. I prefer to go for third-party control libraries only if I cannot absolutely do what I want to get done with the standard control. One control library I used recently was the Infragistics Netvantage control suite for .NET 2.0. I have to tell you, it was not a breeze to use. It's strength is the ability to get the look and feel that is similar to Office 2007. But in terms of programming, there is a learning curve and it is not really straight forward! To its credit, I have to admit that they have a few nifty control, such as the schedule controls which are pretty useful!
Now to my complaint. After working with Netvantage on Windows XP, for sometime, I upgraded my computing platform to Windows Vista. So the first task of setting up the computer was installing all my tools. I managed to install Visual Studio 2005 without a snag, although there were some concerns and complains about Visual Studio on Vista, then I installed the ASP.NET 2.0 AJAX control tool kit which also went ahead without a snag. Then I moved on to install Netvantage, and I HIT a SNAG.
Netvantage installer is a zip file. When I opened the zip on RAR and clicked on the MSI it started the process of extracting. At around 60% of progress the extraction fails saying the compressed file is corrupted. I even tried a fresh download from the Infragistics site, still the same result.
As this same zip file worked for me on my Windows XP computer, I tried extracting the compressed file on the WinXP machine. Voila! It worked, without a snag! I was overjoyed! Seems my problem was solved!
So I moved the extracted files to the Vista machine and then tried the installer. Well, it was progressing pretty well, I thought the installation had completed, and then…. I get this message: "Installation ended prematurely because of an error" What an error message? What the heck!
So I search around and come across this post! So I am posting it again herefor the benefit of those who may face this problem and to thank David Ching for coming up with the solution.
I came across the above error message when I was working with SqlCeResultSets today. I was executing a query and assigning values to a SqlCeResultset to bind the resultset to a combobox. But at runtime, when the resultset was bound to the control, I got the above error. I could not figure out was causing it. My first take was to assume this was due to the fact that teh resultset was empty. But then that did not make any sense. When I looked into the code, i realized that I have created the resultset as 'Scrollable', when I was creating it. Then I changes the resultsetoption to 'None'. This solved the problem. I am not sure why Scrollable resultsetoption caused this error in the first place. Any ideas would be most welcome.
I figured it out.
You cannot have a non-scrollable resultset bound to a control. If the resultset is non-scrollable, the ResultSetView property becomes null and hence your data binding does not work.
Actually the issue was somewhere else. I had bound the resultset toa combobox. And for the combobox, I had a selected index cahgned event handler, which was badly coded without any checks for the value that was selected in the combobox. Once I got that sorted out, the problem was sorted.


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Film School & Education | Interviews | Massachusetts | Screenplay Doctor | Screenwriting
Screenwriting Advice from Award-Winning Screenwriter and Teacher Barry Brodsky
Written by Susan Kouguell | Posted by: NewEnglandFilm.com
In October, I was a guest speaker for Professor Barry Brodsky's Industry Night at Emerson College, to discuss the business of screenwriting. Professor Brodsky kindly took time out of his busy schedule to be interviewed for this month's column.
Barry Brodsky teaches screenwriting at Emerson, Boston University and Lesley University, and serves as the Director of the Emerson College Screenwriting Certificate Program. He is an award-winning playwright and screenwriter; his short screenplay I Miss You (directed by Fethi Bendida) is premiering at the Algerian Film Festival next month.
Susan Kouguell: To give readers an overview of the screenwriting educational opportunities in the Boston area, please talk about the programs and enrollment requirements at Emerson College and Boston University.
Barry Brodsky: Emerson and BU have the best known film schools in Boston. Both schools feature internships in Los Angeles and the programs are well respected in the industry. And, of course, it's expensive as hell to go to either school. I'm not on the admissions end of higher education, but I know both Emerson and BU are highly competitive for prospective undergraduate students coming out of high school and for prospective MFA students coming out of an undergraduate program. For a 'non-traditional' student, i.e. someone who's been out of school for a while, or someone who got an undergraduate degree some years ago and now wants to go to an MFA film program, the process is somewhat different. My advice to people who are thinking of film school is to apply to as many as possible and see what happens, particularly in terms of financial aid. Because you never know. You might get offered a good chunk of financial aid when you least expect it. Internships can also help defray the huge costs. Pay the schools a visit, ask to sit in on a class, ask to talk with recent graduates (you'll get people who loved the programs of course, but it's a good way to get some questions answered with more objectivity). Both Emerson and BU afford you the opportunity to learn filmmaking using cutting edge technology. You'll write, direct, learn all aspects of shooting, and act if you care to. It's a great experience. Is it necessary in order to succeed? Being a film school grad will open doors more easily early in your career, but the decision about how much that's worth, or whether going to a film school is the best way to learn the business is a highly personal one. There is no one pat answer and don't trust anyone who tells you there is.
SK: You run the Industry Night series at Emerson College — and I was delighted to be your guest. What type of guests do you have and who may attend these events?
Brodsky: As part of the Certificate program, we bring in two or three "industry experts" each semester to talk with past, present, and future students, as well as anyone else who wants to attend the talk. We've had screenwriters, agents, producers, managers, directors, seminar leaders, story analysts, actors, TV writers, and people like yourself who fit under multiple categories. One industry night featured graduates of the certificate program who had shot their own films. We showed 10-20 minutes of a film from each and then had a panel discussion. These events are open to the public; to get on the mailing list all you have to do is send me an email at firstname.lastname@example.com and request to be put on the "Industry Night Mailing List" and you'll be on it for life.
SK: Among the questions students asked me at Industry Night were requests for suggestions on overcoming writer's block and common mistakes found in scripts. Regarding commonly found screenwriting mistakes, we agreed that students must be particularly mindful of formatting errors, lack of character development and poor structure. I offered a number of suggestions for overcoming writer's block, including putting the script aside for a period of time (days, weeks even) and not to think about scenes but characters — and write character bios in their characters' voices. (This is further detailed in my book Savvy Characters Sell Screenplays!) I also suggested synopsizing the script in prose, in a short story form. You and I also agreed that writing a script can be daunting (as is the process of getting it out in the world and produced) — and one must be passionate about your screenplay. What advice do you have about overcoming writer's block and the screenwriting process?
Brodsky: My MFA is in Theatre (Playwriting) and I once sat in on a talk given by a somewhat successful playwright. He talked about developing a story from the ground up, all the usual things about learning who your characters are, constructing a solid structure for the story blah blah blah. I'd heard it all before (not that I could do it, but I've heard it). Then he said something that's stuck with me for 20 years — at the end of it all you have to ask yourself a question: "Am I the person to write this story?" It was like a bolt of lightning to me because at the time I was struggling with a story idea and I instantly knew I was not the person to write it. I find that sometimes students get very stubborn trying to make that round peg of an idea fit into the square hole of a story they want to tell. That's why I allow students to change their minds right up to the time the first writing assignment is due. I want them to spend some time with their story, do a "beat sheet," write a treatment, do index cards — I like Blake Snyder's 40 card system but it doesn't matter which system you choose as long as you really get that story playing from beginning to end on that theater screen in your head. When students can't get it to play out, I often encourage them to come up with something else.
SK: What is your opinion of the value of attending film school and choosing screenwriting as a major?
Brodsky: I believe in what Joseph Campbell said: you have to follow your passion. But here in 21st century America, you're not likely to find too many "Full-Time Screenwriters Wanted — good pay and health insurance included" ads on the local job boards. But that doesn't mean you can't hammer out a living some other way and still write what you want to write. I came to scriptwriting somewhat late in life — I did freelance writing before that and made my living mostly as a community organizer. After I got an MFA in Theatre, I did clerical work at a local hospital for 13 years. In the course of living your life you're going to make some mistakes. If your biggest mistake turns out to be that you didn't major in screenwriting, you're probably going to have a pretty decent life. You can learn the fundamentals of screenwriting (and this is a shameless case of self-promotion I'm about to make) in many ways, not just majoring in screenwriting at a university. For example… you can come to the Emerson Screenwriting Certificate program, have two semesters of Screenwriting Basics in which you will write a complete first draft, and take either an Advanced Screenwriting class (where you'll either write a new first draft or rewrite the first draft you've already written), the Business of Screenwriting (where you'll learn how to market yourself and your work to the movie industry), or TV Writing, a class we're just getting off the ground. To become a screenwriter, for real, the main thing you need to do is write screenplays. Learn how to write a properly formatted screenplay that makes a reader want to keep turning the pages until he/she reads the words FADE OUT, whether you learn that in a university program, an adult ed class, a program like mine at Emerson, by attending seminars, joining a writing group, watching instructional DVDs, networking with other screenwriters at film festivals, reading hundreds of film scripts and trying to imitate the ones you like best, and I could go on and on but you get the idea: carve out your path, follow it, and most likely on the other side you'll be cranking out screenplays and having a good time doing it.
For more information on Emerson's Screenwriting Certificate Program, visit their website.
Award-winning screenwriter and filmmaker Susan Kouguell teaches screenwriting and film at Tufts University, and is chairperson of Su-City Pictures East, LLC, a motion picture consulting company founded in 1990 where she works with over 1,000 writers, filmmakers, and film executives worldwide ( www.su-city-pictures.com; su-city-pictures.blogspot.com). Susan wrote The Savvy Screenwriter: How to Sell Your Screenplay (and Yourself) Without Selling Out! (St. Martin's Griffin) and SAVVY CHARACTERS SELL SCREENPLAYS! A comprehensive guide to crafting winning characters with film analyses and screenwriting exercises, which is available at $1.00 off by clicking on www.createspace.com/3558862and using DISCOUNT CODE: G22GAZPD. To order the just released Kindle version go to: http://www.amazon.com/dp/B009SB8Z7M (discount code does not apply). To read an excerpt go to: https://www.createspace.com/Preview/1089452.
Follow Susan at Su-City Pictures, LLC Facebook fan page and SKouguell Twitter page for more Savvy Tips.
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Screenwriting: The Hero's Journey in Seven Sequences
Script Marketing 101
Award-winning screenwriter and filmmaker Susan Kouguell teaches screenwriting and film at Tufts University, and is chairperson of Su-City Pictures East, LLC, a motion picture consulting company founded in 1990 where she works with over 1,000 writers, filmmakers, and film executives worldwide ( www.su-city-pictures.com; su-city-pictures.blogspot.com). Susan wrote The Savvy Screenwriter: How to Sell Your Screenplay (and Yourself) Without Selling Out! (St. Martin's Griffin) and SAVVY CHARACTERS SELL SCREENPLAYS! A comprehensive guide to crafting winning characters with film analyses and screenwriting exercises, which is available at $1.00 off by clicking on www.createspace.com/3558862and using DISCOUNT CODE: G22GAZPD. To order the just released Kindle version go to: http://www.amazon.com/dp/B009SB8Z7M (discount code does not apply). To read an excerpt go to: https://www.createspace.com/Preview/1089452. Follow Susan at Su-City Pictures, LLC Facebook fan page and SKouguell Twitter page for more Savvy Tips.

subset: commoncrawl


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I spotted a new Dewalt drilling and driving power tool accessory set, DT71569-QZ, and its case struck me as quite interesting.
It has a clear lid – always a nice touch – and is advertised as being a reusable storage case for use with a T-Stak drawer unit. I'm not sure, but I believe they're talking about the DWST17804 case, currently $25.49 at Acme Tool.
That actually seems like a neat idea. Does the accessory case take the place of one of these drawers, or does it fit inside it? Just to clarify – it doesn't look like this is a T-Stak unit, it looks like it is only compatible with a T-Stak drawer unit. But you could use it by itself as well.
You get a selection of drilling and driving accessories – hole saws, screwdriver bits, nut drivers, drill bits, and masonry-drilling hammer drill bits.
Now, while this looks like a neat idea, I am so confused. Why are the drill and hammer drill bits given metric sizing? And if you look closely, the hole saws have dual-unit measurements on their plastic cover.
I'm thinking that either this is an international listing that accidentally made it to Amazon.com, or it's coming to the USA but the decision was made to reuse the metric set's product image.
I'd love to see something like this bundled with a T-Stak unit as part of a holiday season promo, except maybe with a different drilling and driving accessory assortment.
Price: $23
Buy Now(via Amazon)
It's temporarily out of stock, but still available for ordering.


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In the 2013 Spring Koushien, 16 year-old Saibi ace pitcher, Tomohiro Anraku, threw 772 pitches in nine days. Five games, nine days, 772 pitches. There is no need for embellishment, because those numbers say it all. He is an elusive kaibutsu – a monster in both pitching and presence – not only in the games he plays in, but over the entire Koushien tournament. Rumors, awe, and the perception of his ability affect the mindset of other teams competing for the title. Anraku's pitch count and perceived stamina drew national reverence and international ire, with Don Nomura (now an advisor to Texas Rangers pitcher Yu Darvish) likening coaches' treatment of Anraku to child abuse.
While discussing Ace of Diamond with a friend of mine the other day, he lauded the series for focusing on "the Yankees" of Japanese high school baseball, as opposed to another team of scrappy underdogs. For the most part – although I would more readily compare Japanese high school baseball to American college football – this analogy holds true. Eijun Sawamura leaves Nagano to attend the powerhouse baseball factory Seidou for his high school career. He himself is a scrappy underdog because Seidou is just that good, churning out highly-competitive teams year after year. With enough players to field at least three teams, if one person fails there is another waiting eagerly on the bench for their chance. For Sawamura, who yearns to be the ace pitcher of Seidou, the rookie kaibutsu, Satoru Furuya, solidly stands in his way.
Furuya arrives with one monstrous pitch in a practice game, rocketing him from the first-year squad to the first-string team. His debut outing against Yokohama in the Kanto tournament nets him six strikeouts in six batters. The game was already lost by the time Furuya takes the mound, but his composure and presence are no less impressive for it. Furuya owns that game like a true monster should. Glory lies ahead for Furuya, provided that he can stay healthy enough to carry his team. As of episode nine, his health and stamina appear to be up in the air. The amount of power required to pitch as Furuya does cannot be sustained without further training and extreme attentiveness to even the slightest of injuries, like a split nail.
Motoki Haruna of Ookiku Furikabutte is often called the worst pitcher by his former catcher, Takaya Abe. Purposefully limiting his own pitch count in order to preserve his arm for a career in baseball, Haruna is a rare pitcher in Japan as one who does not see Koushien as the end all be all of his place in baseball. He has the stuff to become a kaibutsu, but deliberately chooses his own future career over potential high school immortality, affecting every team he plays for, including his current high school team, Musashino. While Abe and Haruna also have a storied personal history, the crux of their disagreement lies in what they value in baseball. Haruna cares for his Musashino teammates, but values his future career above all. Abe sees Haruna's pitch count limit as a selfish disregard for how hard his teammates are working towards a common goal of winning, resulting in Abe calling him "the worst."
Currently excelling in Major League Baseball for the Texas Rangers is Japanese pitcher Yu Darvish. His success is partially due to the fact that he, like Haruna, had his pitch count limited while in high school. His high school record is no less impressive for it, having led his team to four appearances in the Koushien tournament, in spite of never winning the title while at Tohoku High. Farsad Darvish specifically sent his son, Yu, to Tohoku – a baseball powerhouse in the same vein as Ace of Diamond's Seidou – and kept a close watch over him the entire time. Like Haruna, Darvish did not become a kaibutsu, in spite of arguably having the presence and mechanical skill. Following high school, and his days in Japan with the Hokkaido Nippon Ham Fighters, Darvish continued to pay specific attention to his pitching style and any stress arising from specific pitches. In 2006, Darvish purposefully phased the screwball out of his pitching repertoire due to the strain it had put on his shoulder.
One can't help but wonder where Darvish would be if he had become a kaibutsu for Tohoku, like Tomohiro Anraku for Saibi, or former Red Sox pitcher, Daisuke Matsuzaka for Yokohama. In Ace of Diamond, Coach Kataoka of Seidou has intense loyalty to the idea of the ace pitcher, even with whispers among his peers that times are changing. Although the series refrains from taking one side over another, it shows the consequences with a surprisingly deft touch. Both Furuya and Sawamura have been gifted to Coach Kataoka, and their development is now firmly in his hands.


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Our Second Guest Blogger is Pat Breeden with In The Sand. Creations by Pat.
The Power Thesaurus gives us many synonyms for this word: reprocess, remodel, recycle, reuse, regenerate, rethink, replay, reassign, and relocate.
The dictionary defines repurpose as "to reuse something for a different purpose from the one that was originally intended." I like to think of it simply as giving new life to a piece of furniture.
I had no idea 3 years ago that I would be recycling, aka. repurposing furniture or certainly that I would be a vendor in an awesome venue like Seaglass Salvage Market. Fishing is my passion but when the cold months got here I needed an alternative so I began making jewelry. That's how I got to Seaglass in November 2014 as an outside vendor on the coldest weekend known to modern man in Leland, NC. I loved it there but told the owners that I'd see them in the spring.
Over the winter months, I began picking up furniture that needed love and learning foreign terms like chalk paint, antiquing wax, Purdy brushes, polyacrylic, and finding that I needed a saw …. a power tool … HOTDOG!! I scoured Pinterest for ideas and copied others ideas. I messed up a lot of wood and fingers. I also learned that small intricate crafty projects were not for me and superglue will glue your fingers to your shirt and anything else it comes in contact with.
I realized over time that not only was I repurposing furniture items but I was repurposing myself. I couldn't wait to get home from my day job to work on furniture. I was becoming a pretty decent carpenter. I was now the proud owner of 6 different kinds of saws, several sanders, an oscillating tool, and I knew how to use them all. I gave new life to the old tossed out furniture and it gave new life to me.
I didn't need Pinterest as much as in the beginning. Now when I see an old TV stand sitting there I already see an island. When I see an old pantry door I see a shadowbox coffee table. Not only can I see it but I can build it.
So I showed back up at Seaglass that next spring and graduated to an indoor vendor. I found my "tribe" … those special creative friends who cry with and for each other; laugh with and even at each other; applaud our successes and pick each other up in our tough moments. We even sing and dance together sometimes as any good tribe would do!!!
As a new me evolves through this avocation of repurposing, I am constantly inspired to see the beauty in furniture and people that could be easily missed if the deeper beauty was obscured by an unfinished exterior.


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Monthly Archives: January 2013
And The Carnival is A Go!
Well, we had our first "Face to Face" meeting with as many people as I could manage this past weekend. It was very productive and the end result is that the Carnival project is a go for Kingdom A&S and events moving forward.
I admit that I was extremely worried about this. Having an idea is one thing. Having enthusiasm for that idea is another. Getting people excited about it is yet another thing. Getting people to commit to supporting your idea is a massively complicated thing.
It's been more than a year since I started brainstorming this idea. I know, I checked. Notes that I have date back to last January. It's hard to imagine that I've been on this concept for that long, but there it is.
But now others have 'officially' bought in and we have a project plan and a target date and commitments and everything.
Now the real work begins.
Up until now everything has been planning, researching, gathering ideas and building interest.
I have high hopes.
In other news I have begun working on a project which has brought me a great deal of amusement. A friend of mine is a writer. He has been writing a very funny story about a character who is very definitely a bad person. To use a term, he engages in a great deal of 'douchebaggery.' Which means, if you are in the right circles, you know what I'm talking about.
I have been recording the story for him. Putting my voice talents to work making his story into an audio book. I've never particularly done this before, so it is a learning experience. But I have my many years on stage and my technical knowledge to make the digital recordings, so there you have it.
It's possible we might make the 'audio book' available at some point in the future but for now it's just a fun project to play with. I'm enjoying it a great deal.
So there we are. It's been a bit quiet here on the blog but there is plenty of sound and fury hiding behind the scenes and now that we are on a countdown clock to Kingdom A&S I hope to have more frequent updates on The Carnival of The Phoenix.
The Performing Introvert
Comments about introverts and being an introvert in what seems to largely be an extroverted world come around every now and again. They ring true for me because, despite how things might otherwise appear, I actually am very much an introvert.
As it turns out there are actually genuine physiological differences between the brains of introverts and the brains of extroverts. These differences are basically which parts of the brain are activated more during different activities. The studies show that for introverts the areas of the brain which become more active during testing are areas which involve memory, problem solving and planning while the brains of extroverts that become more active tend towards the areas involved in interpretation of sensory data.
The difference is that given the opportunity to sit and think, the introvert focuses inward and the extrovert focuses outward. This may seem obvious but I share this up front to show that it isn't just a personality thing like most people believe but is a genuine physical phenomenon.
What is also interesting to note is that according to a variety of studies as much as 75% of the population consists of extroverted individuals while the rest are introverts.
I tell you these things up front because I want to establish two basic things:
- Introversion is not a personality disorder or other psychological issue. It is a normal result of simple physiological differences in the brain
- Introverts are a smaller part of the population than extroverts
So keep those things in mind as I wander off into the actual point of this article; being a performing introvert.
What is a performing introvert? Simply put it's someone who is both an introvert and engages in some activity that puts them "on stage" in front of crowds in order to entertain them.
This might seem like some kind of contradiction. After all aren't the people who are "on stage" used to being in front of people? Don't they crave the attention? Isn't being an extrovert what makes them so good at entertaining?
Those things might be true, but they are definitely not the only answer.
Giving a speech in front of large crowds of people is actually a greater fear than death to most Americans so one can argue that being used to being on stage is not as common as we might expect. Sure there are lots of ways to train like Toastmasters or other speech training programs but statistically speaking at least one would think that even extroverts, who outnumber introverts by as much as 3 to 1, aren't exactly craving that stage time in front of large crowds.
And introverts do crave attention as much as extroverts do. After all, we're all human and we like to interact with each other. The difference is that introverts crave a different kind of interaction. This is the whole "life of the party" concept. Extroverts are often tagged as the "life of the party," often justifiably so. Introverts, not so much. Introverts are usually the ones who, if they are at the party at all, are sitting in a corner having a quiet and pleasant conversation with one or two other people only.
Finally while being an extrovert might help create a level of energy for an entertainer, I don't think it's necessarily what makes them good at entertaining. One can simply do a quick Google search for famous introverts and find lists of some extremely talented performers both live and TV/Film stars. If being extroverted were a requirement we wouldn't have those performances.
So what makes an introvert decide that being an entertainer is a good idea? What makes them think that being in front of crowds of people is what they want to do? What are the problems an introvert has to face and overcome?
Well, I can only speak to my own experiences and observations, so I will. Perhaps you will find this helpful if you too are an introvert with a desire to entertain.
I was drawn to the stage very early on. I mean very early. Like Kindergarten early. The first production I can remember doing was all the kids in class acting out a story from a story book and I played the villain (a very cartoonish Dick Dastardly type villain). That might not seem like much until you get the full context which is that the project was supposed to be all the kids switching out roles every so often so everyone got to play on stage. Except me. The teacher liked what I was doing so much that I played the villain through the entire thing.
Now sure, kids are more outgoing and less likely to be embarrassed when what they are doing is pure play, but this stuck with me, obviously, and it has always been the earliest foundation of what I consider my performance trajectory.
Ever since then I was constantly in "school plays" and then moved to community theater and eventually into being a founding member of an acting troupe that has lasted for 21 years so far as of this writing. Somewhere in there I also became a magician. And not only that I became a professional one, making my living as a magician for four years.
So how does introverted me do all that? Because it's fun. Not for the limelight, which is nice, but because I have a talent and I like to practice it. I like creating. I like the art. Not just the magic but the acting as well. I think about my characters. I think about my delivery. I think about what the audience sees and expects and I think about how to manipulate them to give them an even bigger surprise.
Everyone who knows me knows I'm a magician. If they don't know beforehand they will find out soon enough. But I don't crave doing card tricks for people. My interactions are always first and foremost about creating an artistic or emotional moment for them. And I am always more satisfied by the close up magic I do than the stage magic I do because it creates those connections to other people that introverts like me seem to crave.
This makes sense. As an introvert my "quiet conversation in one corner of the room with a couple of friends at the party" very likely might include some interesting bit of magic or psychological trickery. The entertainment of it, the connection that I make with people when I do that feeds that introvert connection. It makes me interact with, and hopefully be more interesting to, the people at the party and thus makes me liked and validated, something we all want.
While I have done larger shows I have long come to understand that my best large audience size is about 20 people. I can still manage a group that size and provide the connection to them that I want to provide. I can still make significant enough connections with this size group of people that it is worth it to me to extend that amount of "energy."
One of the ideas that is often presented as a difference between introverts and extroverts is where they get their "energy" from. Now before you go off wandering into "new age woo-woo land" let me just say that all I mean by "energy" in this context is the level of connection and excitement one normally experiences when interacting with other people in a positive fashion.
The general thinking is that extroverts get their energy from interacting with groups of other people while introverts get their energy from quiet solitude. As a result extroverts spend time with other people and introverts spend time alone both for the sake of "recharging their batteries."
This too makes sense in light of what I mentioned at the beginning of this article with regards to the physiological differences between the two. If extroverts brains are wired up to enjoy spending time processing external stimuli then spending time with others provides that stimuli. If introverts brains are wired up to enjoy spending time processing internal information then seeking out quiet time to do that provides them that opportunity.
How does that play out for the introverted performer?
In my case at least it seems that the time I spend being quiet is also massively creative time. I get to process all kinds of information that I have gathered and figure out what it means. I get to decide how I might use that information and the conclusions that I come to in order to create better performances. This quiet creative time is where new routines are born, where new magic is created, where new stories are dreamed up. And I know this time well as the kind of time I want after I have had the time I need to just sit and process. My desires for this quiet creative time are always as the last part of a cycle which starts with simply sitting, relaxing and just processing all that I have recently encountered.
In the heat of the moment I am "on stage." I know that I have a specific performing persona and a script that I am following (yes, magicians follow scripts, not just actors). I am putting my energy into that and I can absolutely tell you that if the moment presents itself I will be right there ready to take advantage of a good improvisational opportunity. I feel energized when I have a good audience. I feel drained when I don't.
Through that performance I will be gathering tons of information. But when the performance is over, when I get out and back home I can sit and be quiet. I can process all that I got from the audience and I can recharge my batteries from all that I am inspired by. That's the energy that I, as an introvert, need. That is what fuels the quiet creative time that follows the quiet relaxation time.
I have considered frequently what seems to be the inherent contradiction that when I finish a good show I feel hugely energized and the fact that as an introvert my first craving when I feel worn out is to seek silence and solitude. But it's not really that surprising in retrospect since that huge charge is really coming from a job well done. Much like exercise a show well done is very revitalizing. The adrenaline does work its way through the system and a vigorous performance can definitely be like a vigorous workout.
This bodily energy is not the same thing as the mental energy I crave as an introvert. In that case the bodily energy carries me on further through the rest of whatever I have to deal with such as striking a set or packing up my magic props (a task only I will do). Even at this point I am still expending mental energy maintaining a persona or at the very least keeping myself engaged with my audience. This means I'm still draining my reserves.
It occurs to me too that there is a very definite expenditure of energy leading up to the show. I have long had a reputation for being somewhat disagreeable when I am backstage waiting for the show to begin. When I am back stage I am often very withdrawn and very quiet. I am nervous and generally rather flushed with adrenalin. I can be snappy. I try very hard not to inflict that on my fellow performers but it can still be difficult to be around. Remember that fear of public speaking I mentioned earlier? Yeah, this is it.
Some really do have very good coping mechanisms for this. Others, such as myself, do not. What I do know is that the moment I am on stage all of that nervous energy turns into performance energy. As soon as I hit the stage it's on. The performance itself becomes the catalyst for the nervous energy of being in front of people and turns it from a chore to a challenge.
I have noticed however a certain lethargy I must overcome as well lately. I commented about this in my article about "flight time," that I haven't gotten enough of it lately and that I need more. One of the things I have come to realize is that being an introvert does become one more hurdle I need to overcome. It is far too easy to blow off performance opportunities simply because I'm not feeling up to it.
Is that really lethargy or is that reticence because I'm feeling my introverted nature a bit too much? Is it because I haven't had enough time to myself to either recharge my introvert batteries or am I really just under the weather? These are questions that I seriously need to find the answer to, but my gut tells me that my introvert nature is a bigger part of the problem than I might have originally realized.
After all, the thing that introverts don't want to do is expend energy on something which is not worthwhile or worth their time. That certainly includes unappreciative audiences. We don't come with vast renewable energy reserves and it's really pretty hard to sneak off in the middle of a party or a performance to sit quietly for a few hours to recharge. We've got to be ready when the time comes and that means planning ahead and knowing the situation we are headed into.
One could easily mistake this for fear of the performance, or fear of the audience, but looking at this from the current perspective it seems like those are just ways of saying "fear of running out of energy."
I will not suggest that extroverts are capable of an unlimited amount of energy simply because as long as there are people around they can recharge all they want. Sounds rather vampiric in nature actually. Rather I will suggest that given the fact that there are other people around and they can renew from these people they are less likely to be concerned about failing in the first place. Their natural tendency to laugh and joke makes them capable of easily picking up and moving on if something didn't work in the midst of their performance.
But as an introvert I know that when something doesn't work right I am personally horrified by that and I have trouble recovering. And the presence of others isn't what I need at that point. What I need is time to analyze why this thing failed.
There it is again; outward focus and inward focus.
Now that's a lot to take in but I really am leading up to something and here it is –
The natural advantages of being an introvert may make them extremely good entertainers.
This is, at best, a premise only. But one that I base on my own experiences as well as my observations about a long list of highly skilled and talented introverted entertainers.
What is that list of "advantages?" Well, it is subject open to argument but there is a book entitled "The Introvert Advantage: How to Thrive in an Extrovert World" and in this book a list of the top ten "advantages" enjoyed by introverts is presented.
10) Work Well With Others, Especially In One-to-One Relationships
9) Maintain Long-Term Friendships
8) Flexible
7) Independent
6) Strong Ability To Concentrate
5) Self-Reflective
4) Responsible
3) Creative, Out-of-the-Box thinking
2) Analytical Skills That Integrate Complexity
1) Studious and Smart
I'm not going to run down this whole list, but it does provide some interesting food for thought. I will target some specific characteristics this book is attaching to introverts.
"Strong Ability to Concentrate" seems like something a working entertainer would want. Certainly the level of concentration I expend when performing magic or juggling is high and the ability to stay focused is extremely valuable.
"Self-Reflective" might not make sense at first until you tie it to the idea of both self critique and taking the criticism of others such as your directors, stage managers, and yes, critics. A performer who doesn't pay attention to these things is going to put themselves into a dead end with their creativity and their presentations.
Can we just say that "responsible" and "professionalism" simply go hand in hand and leave it there? Good.
"Creative, Out-of-the-Box thinking" is probably a total no-brainer here. After all, we're talking about entertainers. Being creative, being able to create something new and original is exactly what we are expected to do. But if being an introvert makes you more likely to be able to do these things than certainly it is an advantage.
"Analytical Skills That Integrate Complexity" is also something which seems a no-brainer to me as it goes hand in hand with the whole "creative" thing. Introverts take it all in. We look at everything around us and we catalog and categorize it within our minds. We take notes. We make observations and we are, if I may be so bold to speak for my people at this point, obsessive about the things that interest us. We want, we need, to know everything we can about them. Because once we do all of those things churn around in our skulls and when we have that time to sit and be quiet and let our creativity flow all of it comes in to play.
I'm sure I could make arguments for everything that is on this proposed list of introvert advantages but I trust that by now I have made my point. Despite what might seem the obvious conclusions, introverts can and do make fabulous entertainers. We come top full with a tool kit of skills that are inherently a part of our very nature.
Do we have it all over the extroverts? No clue. I'm not one so I can't judge from the inside.
But I would like to hear from you. I would like to know what you think, especially if like me, you consider yourself to be an introvert performer. Leave your comments below.
Effortless vs. Invisible
In continuing to think about the idea of mastery of ones skills, getting flight time and otherwise general improvement of my own talents I am once again comparing the problems of magicians versus other performers.
When we see someone engage in some skill, not just rehearsing or practicing it but actually engaging in it, we almost always can tell just how good they are by how easy they make it look. While this measure is certainly applicable to non-artistic or non-performance skill sets, it is the performance skill sets I am going to focus on and you can extrapolate from there.
Someone who is a dancer for example when dancing something particularly sophisticated is engaging all their skills. We, as spectators can watch them and see the effort. But when we see little or no effort and yet see the dance being executed flawlessly we immediately say "they make that look so effortless."
Cirque de'Soliel is one of my all-time favorite examples of this. Absolutely no one can deny that the things that they do in Cirque require vast amounts of training, practice, strength, grace, skill and all around awesomeness. But just to make you that much more jealous they also make it look absolutely effortless. Clearly the mark of mastery.
Let us not make the mistake, however, that any of this is effortless at all. Quite the contrary. The lion's share of the effort is actually in the training and the rehearsal, in the countless hours of practice. Most definitely there is effort in the performance because all performances require effort and concentration.
Mastery does not and cannot mean that the performance is 'effortless.' Otherwise we wouldn't need the 'flight time' I wrote of before. I could get everything I needed out of practice and rehearsal without subjecting myself to the stress of performance until I was so good that there would be no stress of performance. Such a state of affairs simply doesn't exist, though I do think that many so called performers who never really perform have precisely that thought in mind.
And to be fair it is an easy trap to fall in to which I think I'm really trying to pull myself out of these days. Even after realizing this it's still not easy to push oneself out of the trap.
Which brings me to the idea of "effortless vs invisible."
For magicians we have a special limitation on our skills. Not only do we have to be good enough at what we do that we can execute those skills effortlessly, but we must also be so good at those skills that we can execute them invisibly as well. Certainly it is true that other artists and performers should be doing what they do that aspects of their art are also invisible in nature, but for the magician the whole of our art is in the invisible.
Imagine then the time and effort spent on mastering a skill only to have to then conceal that skill in order to use it effectively. There are things, techniques, effects, tools and all manner of execution steps that magicians use which, if they fail to make them invisible, will spoil the art they are creating. And at least from an entertainment and artistic perspective there is almost nothing more disappointing than an amazingly cool magic effect being ruined because you can see "the man behind the curtain" as it were.
Now, before this starts to sound like either a whine that my art is hard or a brag that my art is hard, let me just point out that this extra level of training and practice is literally built into every step of the training and practice process. I learn the skills of invisibility as an integrated part of whatever it is I am working on. It does make things a level more difficult at times, but it's part and parcel of the whole process too, so it comes with the territory and isn't nearly so horrible a task as you might think.
The interesting thing is that there are all of these 'moves' and 'techniques' that I would love to show someone because they are cool and subtle and awesome in their own way but I just can't. Occasionally magicians have caught themselves revealing those things in the midst of a performance to those who are sharp eyed enough to see it! The payoff though, is that if I keep those things invisible they allow me to do even more amazingly cool things.
So, in the end, invisible it must be. No matter how cool a "Double Axle Lubin Gearing Pass" might actually be.
Oh, and by the way, last 12th Night I did manage to get a decent amount of 'flight time' in with my magic. I performed for random people through the day as well as performing for a groups while the Golden Stag Players were setting up the show they were doing. It felt good to be getting the time in but I noticed how rusty I really am.
I still made it look effortless and kept it invisible!
Carnival Project & Flight Time
I know I haven't talked much about my SCA Carnival project lately. Simply put this is because I have not done much with it over the past couple of months. When we get to the end of the year all of our SCA thoughts turn towards 12th Night which tends to be all consuming. I have other 12th Night specific plans and projects that I must engage in.
That being said, 12th Night makes for a good milestone marker as well. Once it's over I will have much greater bandwidth to focus on the things I want to focus on such as the Carnival project. So for the past couple of months I've been saying "when 12th Night is done the next thing I'll focus on is……" A common refrain for many of us.
This, of course, coincides with "New Year's Resolution" time, but I am generally not happy about making resolutions. Mainly because they are notorious for being broken. Usually they are things like "exercise more", "eat better", "lose weight" and other self-improvement projects. So when they get broken we end up feeling worse about ourselves and thus the cycle repeats.
No thanks.
Interestingly enough though, I am finding myself very willing and even eager to "set goals" for the coming year, such as getting my Carnival project off the ground. I have a clear deadline set, and a plan of attack, and other people who are willing to be involved so by implication people who are counting on me.
So, I've been thinking a lot about what it's going to take for me to do the variety of things I want to do, that I am setting as goals, for the coming year.
This brings me to the concept of "flight time."
A while back I wrote about the book I've been marking up and it is from there that I am taking my current concept of "flight time" though in truth I have known about it a great deal longer than that. Simply put "flight time" is all about getting experience doing the thing you want to do.
There are many articles and studies which have been done focusing on the idea that in order to "master" any particular skill you need about 10,000 hours of actually doing it. One excellent introduction article can be found here: Gaining Mastery – The Three Vital Steps of The Apprenticeship Phase. There simply is no substitute for flat out experience no matter how much you practice, train or rehearse.
Any performer will tell you that there is no amount of practice or rehearsal you can go through that will fully prepare you for actually performing. You can hit a point where you are as ready as you will ever be, but crossing the threshold between rehearsal and performance still means stepping into the unknown.
But this is where the lessons are. Live audiences will throw things at you (sometimes literally) that you will not really be prepared for. If you are as rehearsed as you can be, if you are as comfortable as you can be with your material then you will be in a position where you will at least have the tools you need to try and handle what the audience has created for you in terms of a new situation.
This is "flight time." Performances. Time in front of an audience doing the things you need to do in order to build your repertoire, build you confidence and build your skills.
Confidence building is the biggest part. Getting in front of people so that you get comfortable with who you are on stage and who they are as your audience. This is the part that scares everyone and it's the make or break part of being an entertainer. Far more fail than succeed because of this step.
I've done some flight time. I've got a life time of stage experience and I did get to the point of doing magic as a profession for several years. But without sitting down and doing the calculations I can still say that it's extremely likely I haven't achieved the 10,000 hour boundary line. Even having been called a "pro" by my mentors I think I don't have that "magical" amount of flight time.
So this year I'm going to seek it out when and where I can. I need to get that going so that when the time comes for the Carnival project to really get off the ground I will be better prepared. I will begin by entertaining at 12th Night this year. And after that just look for that black leather bag hanging at my side. If all goes according to plan this will be my "Commando Act" (the magic I am prepared to entertain with anywhere anytime) and I will be pushing myself to log the "flight time" I need.


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Harvey Smith Is A Lone Ranger
Blimey, it's been a busy day for videogame gossip. And there's more.
As you probably already heard, Harvey Smith has left Midway a couple of days after his rather ineloquent comments about BlackSite: Area 51. His infamous "so fucked up" speech really did sound like the last thing anyone gets to say when representing a company. And indeed, it was.
After his tribute to Gerald Ratner questions were asked about how likely Smith would be to stay on to develop BlackSite 2. But then the explanation was given that his job had come to an end before the words were uttered.
Not so, say Shacknews, accompanied by an "allegedly". The site is reporting that he was still on the payroll at the time. According to their source,
A Midway executive allegedly referred to Smith's talk as "his public resignation."
Mr Smith, we have a suggestion. We've heard rumblings that there's a new project going on at Eidos Montreal, for a game you might recognise. And come on, Montreal's far lovelier than Austin. Go on. Goooooo on.


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Q: I read the Medical Insurance Premiums post on the JNC Blog, but could you elaborate a bit more? I understand that contractually AS must offer us a comparable plan/coverage to the pilots although my concern is not the coverage itself as much as the other items such as deductibles and the amount the Company has contributed to the HSA. Is there any protection or cap on the deductibles they can offer with a plan? Could the Company retract the money they have contributed to the HSA in the past?
A: The deductibles, out-of-pocket maximums, co-insurance, life-time caps, even prescription costs are all detailed in the pilots' CBA. The Company must offer the same plans and provisions to the Flight Attendant group. The HSA company contributions (currently $1,000 employee only and $2,000 for family) are not contractual for ALPA. In years when management was attempting to increase participation in the high-deductible PPO plan, the contributions were increased.
Important note: The Alaska PPO plans are self-insured, so changing plan administrators can not bring significant change.
The Premera plans (Regular PPO and Consumer Choice PPO) are self-insured by Alaska Airlines and Premera is the administrative services provider. Negotiated plan terms cannot be unilaterally altered by the Company so the health plan provider doesn't matter as long as the health plan provider can accommodate the services needed to comply with the contract. The Company has changed service providers before (e.g. from Aetna to Premera) and the labor group leaders were invited to participate in the process before a decision was made.
Q: Can we see the plan that the pilots have to research if our current providers, services, etc/, are in the plan?
A: AFA has verified with the ALPA Alaska Benefits representative that the pilots have the exact same network coverage as the FAs. Here is the relevant contractual language for your reference:
ALPA CBA Section 27 Health Insurance >
ALPA Alaska's contract is amendable April 2020.