|
About This Author
I am SoCalScribe. This is my InkSpot.
|
Blogocentric Formulations
Logocentric (adj). Regarding words and language as a fundamental expression of an external reality (especially applied as a negative term to traditional Western thought by postmodernist critics).
Sometimes I just write whatever I feel like. Other times I respond to prompts, many taken from the following places:
Thanks for stopping by! 
| |
PROMPT: Provide your thoughts/opinions on a newspaper/magazine article or a radio/television news story from the past week.
The article that caught my attention this week was this one about Paris' partial ban on driving in the French capital. 
While I do applaud any effort to combat the environmental impact of motor vehicles, this just feels like it's headed in the wrong direction. It was rushed through in order to gain political favor, and there are so many corollary concerns that they just didn't seem to take into account when they passed this ban. If you're really going to implement a ban where only half the cars can drive on the roads during any given day (odd or even days based on the last digit of your license plate), how do they plan on addressing the following:
 How will this be enforced?
 How will this affect public transportation?
*cargray* Is this a long-term solution?
To be honest, I think this is an election-year idea that will quickly be forgotten once it's proved unenforceable. I mean, are French police going to devote a ton of time and resources to checking the numbers on people's license plates to make sure no one's trying to drive on one of their banned days? On the days that half the city can't drive, is there enough public transportation infrastructure in place to support half the city being unable to drive their cars? It just seems like, while maybe well-intentioned, this is just an idea that's destined to fail because it doesn't appear that anyone's thought about the logistics involved in actually accomplishing the greater goal. I think they'd be far better off trying to develop some kind of incentive plan so people voluntarily choose public transportation rather than having it legislated for them.
Still, at least people are trying to do something, I guess. 
--------------------------------------------------
** Image ID #1802740 Unavailable **
PROMPT: Which deceased actor or actress do you miss the most?
Okay, so technically Don LaFontaine was a voice actor, but I think his presence might be missed just as much as any individual actor. If the name doesn't sound familiar, LaFontaine is the voice-over narrator of more than five thousand film trailers and hundreds of thousands of advertisements and commercials. Nicknamed "Thunder Throat" and "The Voice of God," LaFontaine's work often included his own catchphrase, "In a world..." During the height of his career, LaFontaine would sometimes record as many as 60 promotions a week, and sometimes rattled off 35 in a single day. 
He was the inspiration for Lake Bell's movie about voice-over artists called IN A WORLD (which also takes its name from LaFontaine's catchphrase), and he parodied himself on this classic GEICO commercial:
I very nearly chose Heath Ledger or Raul Julia for this topic, but instead I decided to go with someone that many people might not immediately recognize, but whose work they're familiar with and who was a huge loss to the entertainment industry when he passed away.
|
| |
PROMPT: Spring Break
As I mentioned in blog post earlier this year, I'm really trying to write more poetry. It's a form of writing I've avoided for a long time, mostly because I have very little experience with or expertise in it. That said, I suppose a "Creation Saturday" prompt is the perfect time to give it a try, so I humbly submit, for your reading enjoyment, the following limerick:
A friend trying to shake me awake
When he did, my head started to ache
I rose and then I froze
'Cuz I'm missing my clothes
I swear, this is my final Spring Break!
I still have a hard time with emphatic syllables and the nuances of structure, but hopefully this little limerick puts a smile on your face and at least adheres to the basic conventions (lines, syllables, rhyme scheme) for a limerick. 
--------------------------------------------------
** Image ID #1802740 Unavailable **
PROMPT: Which character of which television show would you most like to see a spinoff series about (i.e. a show specifically about that character... examples include FRASIER who was originally a character on CHEERS, JOEY who was originally a character on FRIENDS, and PRIVATE PRACTICE which followed a character that originally starred in GREY'S ANATOMY)?
This is a difficult prompt for me because it implies that (a) it's a character worth having an entire show center around, and (b) that character doesn't already get a significant amount of time dedicated to them in their current show. For example, I'm fascinated by Saul Berenson in HOMELAND, but that show is kind of as much about him as it is about Carrie, so I'd be more inclined to want to see a show about Quinn, a great addition to the show that has a whole life and career that we really don't know much about.
The show I picked for this prompt was SHERLOCK, because there's actually two characters for which I'd love to see a spinoff series: Moriarty and Irene Adler. I think the premise of Moriarty as a "consulting criminal" (to contrast with Sherlock as a "consulting detective") is brilliant, and I think it'd be amazing to see what kinds of crimes and schemes Moriarty undertakes during his ascension to power. Andrew Scott does a positively exceptional and chilling interpretation of Moriarty, and it's one I wouldn't mind seeing expand out on its own. Irene Adler, similarly, is captivating and unique in the way she's presented, as a dominatrix who gives out "recreational scoldings" and acquires blackmail information on prominent clients. For anyone who's seen the first and second series of SHERLOCK, I'm sure they can appreciate the way Irene Adler makes an entrance and an impression on Sherlock and Watson! 
There are a lot of shows with great supporting characters, but it can be difficult to find one that's the right mix between being worth having their own show and not already being featured heavily in their existing one. In the case of SHERLOCK, I think there are two characters worth the "star treatment," but let's be honest... that show is also pretty freakin' sensational just the way it is.
|
| |
PROMPT: Try to come up with five what ifs. Pick your favorite and turn it into something funny -- short story, rant, essay... Your choice.
 What if... instead of paper bills and coins, our currency was some other item? 
 What if... you had to assume a new identity and leave your old life completely behind?
 What if... your doctor said you only have two months left to live?
 What if... your significant other suddenly confessed that they were actually a spy?
 What if... you could be a professional athlete for a day?
I've often wondered what life would be like if, instead of paper money and coins, we had some other kind of currency. What if we collectively decided that salaries would be paid and goods and services would be bought with something entirely arbitrary like buttons or seashells or pineapples or poker chips. On the one hand, it's not so hard to believe... at one point we had to make the collective decision to assign value to pieces of printed linen paper and circular pieces of metal, and could just as easily have chosen some other arbitrary item (although maybe pineapple would have to be ruled out because it has a natural expiration date on it ).
Speaking of currency, I really love the fact that the European Union has coins for the $1 and $2 denominations. I think it's so much more convenient to carry coins for those little amounts, so you can pay for pretty much anything under $5 with the change in your pockets rather than having to also break out an assorted collection of bills and coins. I pointed this out to my wife when we were in Paris last year, and she was mostly in agreement with me until I pointed out that it might make stripping a more dangerous job... what with patrons flinging metal coins at them rather than raining dollar bills down on them.
--------------------------------------------------
** Image ID #1802740 Unavailable **
PROMPT: What actor or actress do you like enough to watch in just about anything?
Even though I've known who Joseph Gordon-Levitt is since 3RD ROCK FROM THE SUN and one of my all-time favorites, 10 THINGS I HATE ABOUT YOU, it's been remarkable to see just how far he's come and how good he really is over the past decade or so. His collaborations with Rian Johnson (BRICK, LOOPER, and a cameo in THE BROTHERS BLOOM) are really the first time I realized this guy was an exceptional actor. Then he turned in outstanding performances in THE LOOKOUT, (500) DAYS OF SUMMER, INCEPTION, 50/50, THE DARK KNIGHT RISES, and DON JON. Even his less impressive fare (PREMIUM RUSH, STOP-LOSS, etc.) still show him standing out from other talents actors in the cast.
There are a lot of other actors that I will follow and see which projects they're acting in (Jennifer Lawrence, Leonardo DiCaprio, Bryan Cranston, Anna Kendrick, Bradley Cooper, Natalie Portman, Emma Stone, Benedict Cumberbatch, Anne Hathaway, etc.), but there is a limit with most of them in terms of what subject matter I'll watch. Even if I love an actor, there's always the occasional project that just doesn't sound all that interesting to me... with Joseph Gordon-Levitt, I'm not sure I've gotten to that point yet. I'm either still too much a fan, or his taste in movies is similar to my own, because every time I hear he's got a new movie coming out, I make a point of seeing it.
|
© Copyright 2025 Jeff (UN: jeff at Writing.Com). All rights reserved.
Jeff has granted InkSpot.Com, its affiliates and its syndicates non-exclusive rights to display this work.
|
Comment • View 4 comments 
