Hard Rock Hotel Las Vegas

Last day in Vegas was a great one for the pool.

The Holidays

Tomorrow evening is the start of Rosh HaShana 5772 and ushers in the fall holiday season. When I was a kid in Brooklyn we called it the High Holidays. No cartoons on Thursday or Friday. Next Dry Bones on Monday.

Shana Tova!
Happy Jewish New Year
to us all!

What Makes Good Fiction?

   Many people have various opinions about what good fiction should look like, but almost anyone could agree that there are certain elements that should be an integral part of fiction. Plot, characterization, and the setting are three basic components of all novels, plays, and movies. But how exactly do these components make a good story?
   All stories have plots. A good plot has a clearly defined conflict between the protagonists and the antagonists. The war between the Scottish and the English, as seen in the movie Braveheart, is a clear example of a real conflict between good protagonists and bad antagonists. William Wallace did not merely have an emotional or verbal conflict with his enemies. Armed with his massive claymore, Wallace hacked through his foes, fighting against overwhelming odds.
   Conflict can also involve a more subtle form, such as the tension between the opposing sides in a court of law. Whether the main character is battling his enemies with a sword or arguing verbally with his opponent, the tension and conflict should increase progressively as the plot moves forward and eventually come to a head, the climax, where tension and conflict are at the maximum.   
   At this point, prior to the resolution of the conflict, the main characters are close to losing the battle or conflict. Here, the reader, or viewer of the story, should get the strong feeling that the hero just might end up losing to his foes. If it appears that the main character always has the upper hand and does not have a chance of losing, the outcome will be obvious and the reader may find it hard to keep reading. For example, if super heroes never had imposing enemies that presented real challenges for them, they would have very few fans. Stories with good plots and interesting characters will hold the reader’s attention up to the time of the climax.
   A good plot can only exist if the characters are well formed and realistic. Stories with poorly developed characters do not hold the reader’s attention for long because they seem fake and two-dimensional. A character is really an imaginary person that exists in the author’s mind. If the author fails to imagine and create realistic characters, his story will lack a dynamic and believable element that is crucial for it to be interesting. A character can make or break a story. Good characters stand out in a reader’s mind. They appear almost as realistic and believable as a person one is acquainted with, such as a coworker, a boss, or a friend. Being realistic, they shouldn’t appear to have been created on an assembly line. Each character should be different from any other that existed. Unique features set good characters apart from the thousands of personas that exist in movies and books. Features such as a scar on the cheek, walking with a limp, having a unique way of speaking, or a distinct personality help to give characters a life-like feel. An assassin with beak-like nose, a detective with beady eyes that can pierce like lasers, or a scientist with a nervous habit of rubbing his hands together all stand out and will likely be remembered by the reader of good fiction.
   And finally, a story can only be good if it has a distinct, detailed, and realistic setting (or settings) that makes the reader feel as if he or she is present in the story. If the story takes place in the 1800s, in the city of London, the descriptions of the period, the clothing styles, the streets, the buildings, the rooms, the bridges, and the people should be accurate and vivid. The reader should be able to visit the streets of London and almost see the surroundings in his or her mind’s eye. ‘Cobblestone streets worn smooth like polished wood by the countless numbers of feet that have trodden them underfoot’, ‘quaint shop signs once brightly painted but now exfoliating their decaying coatings like lizards shedding scales’, and ‘a horse-drawn coach, its wheels protesting with loud squeaks, rushed past’ all are descriptions that help to make the settings come alive in the reader’s mind. 
   However, a huge amount of unnecessary details do nothing to create interest in the story or in the plot. Rather, they slow down the pacing of the story and tend to make the story uninteresting. Pacing is everything in novels and movies. If the story is interesting and the conflict and tension are increasing in intensity, a long, slow, relatively uneventful spot in the middle of the story will cause many readers to stop reading, or to read less and less each time they pick up the book. From beginning to end, the story needs to be interesting, and the pacing, though somewhat varied, should not leave room for boredom. A reader of a good fiction story will be reluctant to put the book down and will have a lingering curiosity about what will happen next.
   In conclusion, fiction has three main elements: a plot, characters, and a setting (or several). A good plot is interesting and unpredictable with a real conflict that culminates in a climax. A plot can only be good if the characters performing the action and involved in the conflict are realistic, unique, and believable. The setting (or settings), where the characters interact, must be a place (or places) that the reader can easily imagine and picture vividly in his or her mind. Details should make the story come alive, without bogging down the pacing. Those three elements together constitute a good story.

Robocop on Mt. Rushmore

Robocop on Mt. Rushmore

This is some old ridiculous photoshop that I did years ago that I found lying around in my digital journeys.

PLO Blunder

There has been much discussion of the bid for UN recognition of a "Palestinian" State. I see it as a learning experience, as presented in today's cartoon.

Science fiction is a subject that will never grow old. One might argue that for thousands of years science fiction has been the product of many creative imaginations. The Epic of Gilgamesh, the Mahabharata, Homer's Odyssey, and many other ancient stories contain similar themes and elements to stories written today. Elements such as romance, drama, action, and adventure have always appealed to humankind. Every epic story has villains and heroes, daring rescues, battles, and romance.
Why is that the case? Why are the best movies made always about a hero falling in love with a beautiful woman and fighting in a climatic battle for a noble cause? There is something within each of us that finds these stories captivating. Regardless of culture or creed, we all enjoy movies or novels about heroism, betrayal, sacrifice, and victory. Why is this?

   

  

Credit Ratings

the story:

Sept. 21 (Bloomberg)
". . . Italy’s rating was lowered yesterday by one level on concern that weakening economic growth and a “fragile” government mean the nation will struggle to reduce the euro- region’s second-largest debt burden. Italy was lowered to A from A+ with a negative outlook four months after the company warned of the risk of a downgrade. S&P today cut the creditworthiness of state-owned lender Cassa Depositi e Prestiti. . . Italy follows Spain, Ireland, Portugal, Cyprus and Greece as euro-region countries whose credit rating have been cut this year" -more

MY SHORTCUT KEY LIST AND SOLUTIONS FOR APPLE'S FINAL CUT PRO VIDEO EDITING

Some of my more difficult to remember Shortcut Keys that help my efficiency in NO MOUSE video editing in Final Cut Pro. I can't stand over descriptive unnecessary tech blathering when I'm searching for a solution so let's get to it.


Switch Between Tabs inside Windows (LEFT OR RIGHT BRACKETS to choose direction): COMMAND+SHIFT+[

Change Scaling of Video in Timeline: Double click the video track. Click and Drag the wire frame inside the viewer. Hold Shift to prevent the frame from constraining it's perspective.

Convert an off size video resolution to conform to the current sequence.
- select everything except transitions
- from the top menu: MODIFY > CONFORM TO SEQUENCE

Change Audio Gain on selected clips in timeline: OPTION+COMMAND+L

To expand clip to its original In and Out Points when creating slow motion: [Right Click over clip in Timeline] > CHANGE SPEED >[Enter Speed EG. 50%] > RIPPLE SEQUENCE > OK

Clear IN and OUT: ALT+X

Link all Audio and Video in Timeline: SHIFT+L

Split Stereo Audio Tracks: ALT+L (Then the unneeded Track can be deleted.

Convert Audio Tracks to Mono: (Highlight Audio Tracks): CTRL+.
(Menu Commands: MODIFY > AUDIO > CENTER PAN)

Adding Transitions: AUDIO: ALT+COMMAND+T
VIDEO: COMMAND+T (or right click directly over the clip end to have a transition added.)

Wye (1998)

November 27, 1998

Today's Golden Oldie is from 1998.

The Wye Agreements:

"The Wye talks opened on October 14, 1998 and after 9 days of tough negotiations regarding the extent of the next stage of Israeli withdrawal, the Wye River Memorandum was signed. Israel would relinquish 13 percent of the land of which 10 percent would be turned over to Palestinian control and the rest would be turned into nature reserves. In return, Arafat agreed to take measures to prevent acts of terrorism against Israel, to apprehend individuals suspected of perpetrating acts of violence and terror, and to punish all persons involved in acts of violence and terror. It was also agreed at Wye that the Palestinians would collect all illegal weapons from the Palestinians and that the Palestinian police would be reduced from 36,000 to 30,000 men."

-more

The Betrayal of Jonathan Pollard at Wye:

"Both before and again during the Wye summit negotiations in the fall of 1998, President Clinton promised to release Jonathan Pollard. Pollard was the deal-maker at Wye which enabled the accords to be completed.

At the last minute, with the eyes of the world focused on the Wye Accords signing ceremony which was about to take place in Washington, Clinton reneged on Pollard's release," -more

* * *
It's now thirteen years after Wye.
Your thoughts?

Simple Truth

I like to do cartoons about specific events or news items. Our Prime Minister will be speaking at the UN today. I suppose he'll try to tell the world the truth as he sees it.

"So" I thought, "I'll do the same."

UN Resolution (1991)

September 27, 1991

On November 10, 1975, the anniversary of Kristallnacht, the U.N. General Assembly passed a resolution declaring Zionism to be racism. Sixteen years later, in September 1991, because of American pressure, the resolution was repealed.

Today's cartoon is from that September in 1991.
20 years ago this month.

According to the New York Times:

U.N. Repeals Its '75 Resolution Equating Zionism With Racism

"The United Nations General Assembly voted overwhelmingly today to revoke the bitterly contested statement it approved in 1975 that said "Zionism is a form of racism and racial discrimination.

The official count found 111 nations in favor of repealing the statement and 25 nations, mostly Islamic and hard-line Communists, voting against. Thirteen nations abstained. Seventeen other countries, including Egypt, which recognizes Israel, and Kuwait and China, did not take part in the voting.

For the United States, the heavy vote in favor of repeal was a demonstration of its diplomatic power. After President Bush called for the repeal in September in a speech to the General Assembly, United States embassies around the world were instructed to put maximum pressure to secure the repeal. " -more

And now we've sent our Prime Minister to that same UN, to stand alone and, on our behalf, to speak to the governments of the world.

Latest News

I didn't know what subject to deal with today.

Reading the newspapers at my local cafe revealed the current possibilities; the "double dip" recession, Islamist Turkey, the Palestinians, Palestine at the UN, Bibi standing isolated speaking to the world at the UN, the Eurozone crisis, starvation in Africa, the lynch attempt at the embassy in Cairo, etc. etc. etc.

While going over the topics I absent-mindedly doodled a picture of Mr. Shuldig reacting to the news. I looked at what I had done and laughed.

I traced it for today's cartoon.

Random Photographs from Canada in Vancouver, British Columbia and Virden, Manitoba