Dear Television

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Dear Television,

For the past years, there have been both good and bad decisions made on shows.  This isn't a hate letter; I assure we all appreciate your ability to give us half hour sitcoms and one hour dramas (seriously, I'm pretty sure a lot of us now make our schedules around yours so that we can catch our favourite shows).  I am writing this because I am asking you for one favour, in return for my continued viewership.

Don't pull a Darrin.

I know what you're wondering: what is "pulling a Darrin"?  I'm sure even my other readers are asking the same question.  Who is this "Darrin" and why should TV not "pull one"?

Darrin refers to my title picture.  Darrin Stephens was the husband character on the television sitcom Bewitched that aired from 1964-1972.  This character was played at first by one Dick York from 1964-1969, then continued by actor Dick Sargent until the show ended.

So what does this have to do with television today and why do I still refer to it as "pulling a Darrin"?

What the show Bewitched did (aside from casting two men who looked very alike and were also both named Dick) was they replaced Darrin with... Well... Darrin.  Was that the show's demise?  I have no idea--I probably couldn't tell the difference when I was young and my dad would have this show on when it was on the channel De-ja-view.  But that's what I now worry about with television: they're replacing characters with the same character.

Still don't understand?

Think of it this way.  CSI: Crime Scene Investigation's Gil Grissom (played by William Peterson) left the show in 2009.  Yes, this was an interesting turning point in the show because it brought the question "can the series survive without Grissom?"

Enter Laurence Fishburne (yes, Morpheus from The Matrix) as Dr. Raymond Langston.  He took Peterson's place in the opening credits of the show, but was his character a real Grissom replacement?  Of course not!  Peterson's shoes will probably never be filled.  He is and always will be the unique Grissom that the show revolved around.  Langston made his own debut, though, giving the team an academic (who was also a doctor) who decided it was time to try it out in the real world--since he taught criminology, why not live it?  Langston and Grissom worked well together in Grissom's final episodes, but it definitely was to make a point: Langston was not the new Grissom.

So, that being said, you're wondering why I'm bringing this up now and why I didn't bring this up when CSI lost Grissom?  Because two sitcoms have recently lost their main characters: Two and a Half Men lost Charlie Harper (played by Charlie Sheen), and The Office lost Michael Scott (played by Steve Carrell).

Both of these characters have a huge influence on both shows.  Everyone of the television viewing world was wondering "how can these shows go on without these characters?"

Two and a Half Men has confirmed that Ashton Kutcher is to replace Charlie Sheen.  Now that doesn't mean that Ashton Kutcher's character name is going to be Charlie Harper because, come on, that wouldn't happen.  But it doesn't stop the writers from making Kutcher's character exactly like Sheen's.

This is what worries me.  I think that a lot of people will roll their eyes and then Two and a Half Men will be shut down by 2012.  And we don't have any sort of idea as to how Kutcher's role is going to weave into the show.

Thankfully, The Office had a couple of final episodes to shoot after the departure of Michael Scott.  Yes, many viewers are probably betting that the show will run for a final season and be done because (and I said it earlier) who could fill the shoes of one Michael Scott?  The writers seem to have taken that into consideration and have teased the viewers with guest star cameos in the final episode.  Yes, it is mainly rumoured that Will Arnett will be replacing Steve Carrell--not as Michael Scott, but as his own character which has already been introduced in the season finale of The Office.

So, my dear television, I am very open to these constant changes in hopes to keep these sitcoms alive.  I just ask--no, I'm begging--that you keep that fresh idea fresh, and don't bring in the same character that will just impact the show the same way.

Don't pull a Darrin.

The End.

The Classics Remain: Books

Throughout elementary and high school, you probably all read classic books.  And, without a doubt, you probably were bored with them.  I know I was when I was young.  I was miserable when I was forced to read Great Expectations or A Christmas Carol by Charles Dickens, and Shakespeare just became bland.  But these classics have now become more of an interest to me.  I'm surprised to have actually purchased A Tale of Two Cities by Charles Dickens, when I thought that I would never enjoy his literature--especially after reading it in high school.

Don't get me wrong, I still read modern books: I read the Stieg Larsson trilogy (The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo, The Girl who Played with Fire, The Girl who Kicked the Hornet's Nest), and I read my share of JK Rowling's Harry Potter books.  I still have Stephen King's horror, true crime mafia stories (don't worry, I'm still interested in the mafia haha), and, of course, the beginnings of a Scott Pilgrim graphic novel collection.  I've even walked outside the box of horror and read John Dies @ The End by David Wong (that was definitely an interesting read).  But now I also have Dracula by Bram Stoker, Frankenstein by Mary Shelley, The Picture of Dorian Gray by Oscar Wilde, The Woman In White by Wilkie Collins, and as I mentioned earlier, A Tale of Two Cities by Charles Dickens.

Reading the classic novels is definitely a big difference from today's literature.  The attention to detail, the language... It's almost surprising.  Author's today have tried to keep this detail alive.  Stephen King, for example, gives a history of the setting of his novels.  Justin Cronin also uses this detailed method, and he's just hit it big with The Passage.  The attention to detail can often be considered a 'harder read', though.  I know that it was sometimes difficult for me to follow through on a book that had too much detail (lack of attention span?), but then I'd step away from the book for a few days, then return to it with fresh eyes.

Which brings me to my next thought.  A lot of people I know read one book at a time.  Yeah... I have about 3-5 books going at once.  Why?  Probably my attention span.  If a book really catches my attention then I'll devote most of my reading time to that book, but otherwise I often switch between book-to-book to keep my attention up and keeps me reading.  Am I crazy?

Currently Reading:

(technically)

• The Woman in White by Wilkie Collins
• The Passage by Justin Cronin
• Gravity's Rainbow by Thomas Pynchon

I need to start writing better blogs =P

The End

'A Rose by Any Other Pen Name...'

With the submission of a short story under my own name, I know that--if I do get published--it would be hard to write other than suspense/thriller stories under my name.  A lot of writers have done it; in particular, my favourite author Stephen King even wrote under the pen name Richard Bachman.

The reason why I'm contemplating my pen name is because of an episode-story-style website that my friend and I will be writing... Eventually haha.  We've been sitting a story idea since early high school, and a few months ago I pitched the idea of doing an episode-style of writing and make it a website*, and she agreed.

Unfortunately, my favoured pen name which I have had since early high school, Zandra Diphase, is the name of the first character I had created for this story that we want to launch.  Upsetting, right?  And I just don't have the heart to change the character's name so that I can keep that name, so I have decided to figure out a new pen name in which I can write under.

I'm sure a lot of my fellow writers will agree: picking a name, whether it be for a character or yourself, can be challenging.  After looking through previous names in which I have named some of my favourite characters, I've decided that I want the first name of my pen name to be "Lexi".  It's similar to my name, and I'm rather comfortable with it (though, if you call me that in person, I may smack you).  As for the last name, that's where the question is.  I was thinking "Zone", but when telling some of my friends, it doesn't seem to have the effect of 'wow'ness that Zandra Diphase had.

If anyone has any thoughts or suggestions, feel free to mention it to me.  But I guess, for now, my new pen name will be Lexi Zone.

The End

*Side-note: We're still looking for an editor who would like to do some 'volunteer' editing for this website.  Of course if the website does eventually have some sort of income, the money will be divided up between everyone equally.

Destiny, Fate... Or Just Bad Luck?

On Saturday, Matt and I went to Kitchener to see the Titanic Exhibit at The Museum.  It was the last weekend it was in town, and I thought it would be a fun birthday present for him and it gave us a chance to go out of town for a day.

One of the many cool things about the exhibit, aside from the artifacts and the progressive display from the building of the ship to the sinking, was one thing that I've been just thinking of for the past day.  When we handed in our tickets, we were each given a card with information of a person who was on the Titanic.  It was an imitation of a ticket that would have been given to the person when they purchased the ticket, along with how they ended up on the boat and also information about themselves and their family.

I received the information of a 16 year old girl from Chicago, Illinois, who had traveled to Europe with her mother.  They had gone to Europe to grieve over the death of her brothers, both of which were killed in a theatre fire in Chicago.  Originally, this girl and her mother were supposed to board the Olympic, the sister ship of the Titanic, but exchanged their tickets for the Titanic so that they may shop for a few more days in Paris.

This girl survived the horrific day the Titanic sunk.

Could you imagine?  If she and her mother had not opted for a few extra days in Paris, they would not have experienced the tragedy of the Titanic.  To think that just that simple change of tickets changed her life forever...  Well, I'm not sure if it changed her life forever, but I'm sure that it was very hard to cope with.

So I've come to realize that I need to stop thinking about this.  I mean, if you really think about something you've done recently: seen a movie, decided to go to a bar, even just changed your plans for the day...  It could alter your life drastically.

Mind blowing, right?

The End

FarmVille, CityVille, YoVille.. WhateverVille

When Facebook Apps became popular, probably the most spam I received (whether it be in the news feed or in game requests) was for FarmVille.  With its insane popularity, it's really no surprise that Zynga continued the franchise to create games like CityVille, YoVille, FrontierVille.. Any Ville you could think of, I'm pretty sure Zynga created it.

Now, I didn't give into that trend.  As hilarious as it was to hear coworkers discussing how they needed more people to help them "raise a barn" or needed "3 more chickens", whatever, I wasn't going to be one of those people.  Sure, I played my share of Facebook Apps, even had my profile full of wall posts about the games I played.  But being the OCD one that I am, I eventually went through my profile, deleting all my old game posts.

Mafia Wars had been a hit for me.  I was a huge fan, and it wasn't like FarmVille in regards to needing to collect things within a certain amount of time or else I would lose whatever crop couldn't last...  And I'm a bit of a mafia-enthusiast, so I found it rather amusing.

Then, I was met with CityVille.

CityVille has been around for a while, and again, I originally treated it like I did FarmVille: not interested, never would be.  But exam time came around in school, and I needed something to take my mind off the stress.

Enter CityVille.

Surprisingly, it's rather relaxing.  I mean I didn't go obsessive and demanding that I be checking the game every 5 minutes, but something about growing a city from being a small town to a giant metropolis has its relaxing points.

Now that I think of it, every time I used to become stressed I'd start playing The Sims 2.  Not just playing it for the crazy control over computer-people, but building houses.  There's just... Something tranquil in building in a virtual reality.

So, I retract and apologize for my smart-comments towards FarmVille (...though, the people who obsess over it should be commented on).

The End

The Short Story Contest

So, I finally did it.  I submitted a short story of mine (my favourite, The Storm) to a short story contest.

...And I never thought it would be this agonizingly torturous to wait for the results.  I'm trying not to keep my hopes up--it's a world-wide short story contest and the likelihood of me winning that sort of contest on the first try is a stretch--but it feels like I have to wait forever for the rejection.

...Yes, the results will be in in February.

Well, at least, that's when they notify the 15 finalists.

But I can't help but wonder if this was a great choice for me.  If I make top 15 (which, again, is a stretch), my story is published in an anthology that will be sold on Amazon.  But the question is, who would buy that anthology?  It's not going to be available in stores--just on Amazon.

The disadvantage to this contest is that if I do make top 15 and get published, I cannot submit this story to any magazine, newspaper, or publishing company now.  That means I won't be able to get my name out there with this story.

The advantage is... I can win between $25 - $1000.  And be published.

So here's what I'll do.  I will bring my hopes up for this contest, and if I do make top 15 and get published in the anthology, you all can buy a copy and I'll sign it :)

The End.