Ketosis Headache GONZO!
Only lasted two (whole) days, but is finally gone. What else is gone? My sugar/starch cravings!
Yippee for willpower!
Oct 20
Oct 19
Dieter’s Remorse: Trials and Tribulations
OF COURSE we have high expectations of ourselves when we diet…we want the most for the least effort expended. Once progress is made, it’s likely to get overzealous and feel one can “relax” a bit from the strict adherence and enjoy. Maybe indulge in a bite of thanksgiving pie here or a mochi rice treat there. And then, poof! You get a glimpse over your shoulder at your ass in the mirror and “damn, where did that jiggly bit come from? I was feeling so svelte!”
So much for cutting loose. It’s back to the drawing board….
There is a sniggering sense of failure tickling at my mind. Maybe I never could lose the weight. Maybe my willpower wasn’t really ever good enough. I mean, that IS what I’ve believed from failing so many times before on so many various diets.
Why should I be allowed to feel good about myself now? I didn’t really succeed at anything.
How do I silence this unsettling voice? I know I can’t win if I don’t believe in myself.
Pep talk time!
I can maintain ketosis. Next time I feel like I can “relax” because my “goal” has been accomplished, I shall remind myself: this is NOT goal-oriented. This is DOING oriented. I am not simply trying to stroke my vanity by losing a few inches or pounds. I need to want this as a lifestyle. This has to BE me. I can’t just reach a goal and then think, ok, now this is permanent. I’m done.
If I want the full benefits of a restricted carbohydrate body system, including increased insulin sensitivity, it requires full adherence. Each time I relax my effort, have a sugary treat, I am taking two steps back. It will be more difficult to regain the traction I had.
My Buddhist teacher says our practice shouldn’t be like a rushing waterfall that will quickly be spent, but be like a steady stream of continuous effort.
Another example is if you’re trying to boil water, you need the pot to stay on the burner. If you take it off every 30 seconds, it will never get hot enough to boil.
Aug 30
When I am bored or sad, i look at pets up for adoption...
http://www.torontohumanesociety.com/cats.htm
Mar 17
Man, this mind hurts!
and other such realizations...Why is it so easy to fall into traps? Mental patterns can ensnare even the most stoic of icequeens when attachment gets involved. The relatively small reward of pleasure, matched with the anguish of the loss of that pleasure, to a rational mind seems like a pretty dumb gamble. Yet we do it all the time. Sometimes bad relationships are so similar to drug addiction, it surprises me there are not detox facilities. They can be just as debilitating as well. I've realized that I have the power to say: Hey! This mind hurts! For example, jealousy, spawned from the expectation that the other person "only has eyes" for you alone, is just a state of mind. One can no more blame the other person for that feeling than blame the baseball bat for failing to hit a homerun. The true agent of feeling is the mind, not the other person. Pain, suffering, negative feeling and the like, are experienced in the mind and through the mind. An agent outside the mind cannot be the cause of these. An outside agent can be a catalyst, however, but if one is conscientious, blame and anger should not be directed toward another living being, but more constructively directed toward changing the mind. Sometimes situations arise in which the manifestation of negative feelings is so disturbing and overpowering that one cannot respond healthily or constructively. At this point the wise person can and should find the strength to remove themselves from the situation. Another practice is to become "like wood" and remain impassive until the anger subsides. The conclusion is that although I am ultimately responsible for the feelings in my mind, when I am experiencing severe upset if I do not have the strength of will to respond patiently and kindly to the other person, then it is actually healthiest to remove myself from the situation until my mind becomes neutral. This is both loving myself and caring for the other person.
Jan 26
Movie adaptation of the animated TV series, Avatar: The Last Airbender, which is an awesome story with Buddhist, martial arts, and Asian mythological influences. The film is written, directed, and produced by M. Night Shyamalan who is best known for writing and directing Sixth Sense and Unbreakable.
Ironman 2
The sequel to the widely acclaimed first film based on the Marvel comic. It is directed by Jon Favreau, and stars Robert Downey, Jr. as Tony Stark. The film is scheduled to be released in North America on May 7, 2010.Alice in Wonderland
This one has got my hopes up big time with Johnny Depp as the Mad Hatter and Helena Bonham Carter playing the Red Queen. Using motion caption with live action and of course, being released in IMAX 3D, Tim Burton's interpretation of Wonderland will surely be visually fantastic. Arrested Development: The Movie
As a diehard AD fan, I couldn't have a most-wanted list without this one. We've heard from Will Arnett (who plays Gob) that shooting will begin this year, but let's all do the 2010 release raindance, ok?Robin Hood
Ridley Scott directs this with Russell Crowe starring? We say, heck yeah! Due to release May 14.The Green Hornet
After Funny People, I feel like I need a 2-year respite from Seth Rogan, but maybe by December 22, I could palate another film starring him. Directed by Michel Gondry (Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind), this could be an interesting spin on the superhero action film.The Wolfman
A remake of the classic 1940s film, this stars Benicio del Toro (can I get a "Hell yeah!") and is directed by Joe Johnston (Rocketeer, Jumanji). (original posting here.)
Ten Most Anticipated Films of 2010
This is my list of the top films to see in 2010. Which ones are you jonesin' to see? The Last AirbenderMovie adaptation of the animated TV series, Avatar: The Last Airbender, which is an awesome story with Buddhist, martial arts, and Asian mythological influences. The film is written, directed, and produced by M. Night Shyamalan who is best known for writing and directing Sixth Sense and Unbreakable.
Ironman 2
The sequel to the widely acclaimed first film based on the Marvel comic. It is directed by Jon Favreau, and stars Robert Downey, Jr. as Tony Stark. The film is scheduled to be released in North America on May 7, 2010.
Kick-Ass
Yes, another Marvel comic-turned-movie. From the trailers, this one looks to be pretty wicked. Also featuring Nicolas Cage, which guarantees that I will like at least the parts where he is onscreen. The story revolves around a superhero wannabe with no superpowers, but a desire to kick some real-life villainy ass.The Book of Eli
Directed by the Hughes brothers (Menace II Society and Dead Presidents) and starring Denzel Washington as Eli, in a post-apocalyptic tale about one man's attempt to protect the last copy of the Bible. Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows
Part 1 of the final rendition of the Harry Potter tales by JK Rowling, will hopefully surprise fans by maintaining more of the book's original plot due to splitting it into two films (unlike the Half-Blood Prince which retained so little from the book that it was a damn shame).
Yes, another Marvel comic-turned-movie. From the trailers, this one looks to be pretty wicked. Also featuring Nicolas Cage, which guarantees that I will like at least the parts where he is onscreen. The story revolves around a superhero wannabe with no superpowers, but a desire to kick some real-life villainy ass.The Book of Eli
Directed by the Hughes brothers (Menace II Society and Dead Presidents) and starring Denzel Washington as Eli, in a post-apocalyptic tale about one man's attempt to protect the last copy of the Bible. Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows
Part 1 of the final rendition of the Harry Potter tales by JK Rowling, will hopefully surprise fans by maintaining more of the book's original plot due to splitting it into two films (unlike the Half-Blood Prince which retained so little from the book that it was a damn shame).
This one has got my hopes up big time with Johnny Depp as the Mad Hatter and Helena Bonham Carter playing the Red Queen. Using motion caption with live action and of course, being released in IMAX 3D, Tim Burton's interpretation of Wonderland will surely be visually fantastic. Arrested Development: The Movie
As a diehard AD fan, I couldn't have a most-wanted list without this one. We've heard from Will Arnett (who plays Gob) that shooting will begin this year, but let's all do the 2010 release raindance, ok?Robin Hood
Ridley Scott directs this with Russell Crowe starring? We say, heck yeah! Due to release May 14.The Green Hornet
After Funny People, I feel like I need a 2-year respite from Seth Rogan, but maybe by December 22, I could palate another film starring him. Directed by Michel Gondry (Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind), this could be an interesting spin on the superhero action film.The Wolfman
A remake of the classic 1940s film, this stars Benicio del Toro (can I get a "Hell yeah!") and is directed by Joe Johnston (Rocketeer, Jumanji). (original posting here.)
Dec 18
Crowdfunding - an open call for financial support
As far as solving the very real problem of securing funding to create a film, crowdfunding creates viability for a filmmaker to produce his or her project without having to rely on funding from big studios, which, in turn, allows them to protect their artistic vision from being sacrificed. With the online tools available today, just about anyone with a computer and a cause can get attention for their project. Portal sites have been created to facilitate the process of crowdfunding. One such site is Indiegogo, a place where filmmakers can promote their film project and build a community of supporters that contribute the funds necessary for the film to be produced.1 In many cases crowdfunding works by selling some aspect of the film to the public, such as a spot in the end credits. Other filmmakers are able to offer the film as an investment that, if it sells, divies a portion of the profits to the investors. The difficulty in this, at least in the United States, is it can be defined as offering "an investment that is dependent upon the efforts of others," thus coming under very stringent securities regulations (see article in Boing Boing2 and Crowdfunding for Film3). By circumventing the traditional financing route that filmmakers take, independent filmmakers can have full artistic control and freedom to create their film in exactly the manner that they desire. Crowdfunding is not without its problems, however: if the funding level is not reached, the film doesn't get made. It's up to the filmmaker to prove that their venture is a viable one and one that will deliver its promises--a proposition that sounds reminiscent of many start-up businesses. Current and recent films that are utilizing crowdfunding include "Clovis Dardentor" which is based on an unpublished story by Jules Verne and is currently in the fundraising stages.4 Artemis Eternal, a sci-fi picture, is also currently in the fundraising stages in order to be able to complete production.5 Another work, The Age of Stupid -- a film on climate change -- was successful in raising the funds needed to complete production, and has had international screenings in 2009.6 Crowdsourcing - an open call for collaboration
In 2006, Jeff Howe of Wired Magazine coined the term "crowdsourcing" to refer to outsourcing a job that would normally be performed by a single agent to an unspecified group or "crowd" in the form of an open call.7 A very significant impact of this can be seen in open source software development and APIs (a la Mozilla and Twitter). The convergence of outsourcing to crowds and social media have created a symbiotic relationship for crowdsourcing to flourish. The development of online tools for community building and collaboration have made these types of collaborative projects possible between people from disparate countries. New directions have been paved through crowdsourcing creative ventures. The project "Altered Books"8 uses online communities to solicit modified book pages as a collaborative art project. Twitter has also been used as a forum for a number of collaborative creative projects including an opera, a sci-fi novel, and a book of poetry (see: Royal Opera House9 , The Longest Poem in the World10 and this article about the failure of novels written on Twitter11 ). There is debate, however, regarding the artistic merit of some of these collaborations; some speculation revolves around how to manage and direct these projects so that quality and cohesion are maintained (see article in BizDharma12 ). One project that found a way to integrate crowdsourcing and creative collaboration seamlessly is Mass Animation, developed by Yair Landau. It was the “first collaborative, worldwide effort to produce a computer-generated animated short film for theatrical release.” Backed by Intel, Mass Animation held an open call for participants to animate shots of “Live Music” – a 5 minute CGI-animated short film.13 Using Facebook as the platform for animators to learn about the project, join the collaboration and download the animating software, Mass Animation saw 57,000 fans on their Facebook page and 17,000 participants. Live Music received its theatrical debut as it was shown with TriStar pictures "Planet 51".
There have only been a few film projects that are based on both crowdfunding and crowdsourcing, but I predict there will be many more as the model of crowdfunding is combined with idea of allowing the "crowd" to offer their creative input in the actual film production. One such example is "A Swarm of Angels."14 This project, started in 2006, had an open call for funders that closed after they had reached adequate funding. "Matt [Hanson, the creator will be] signing up angels in batches: first 100, then 1000, then 5000, then 25000, then 50000. At each stage, the angels get to participate in different parts of the film production: script development, teaser production, trailer production, pre-production planning, production, post-production, etc."15 Some filmmakers, such as director Nicolas Alcala and producers Carola Rodriguez and Bruno Teixidor, whose film The Cosmonauts (currently in the production), will have all the footage from their film available to the people who offered funding, making available the film's assets to its financiers.16
I have found a number of debates revolving around the viability of crowdfunding and/or crowdsourcing independent films (see this discussion on Epicfu.com17 ). The question with crowdfunding is how to make it a worthwhile investment for potential financiers. When asked, many people have indicated that they would be hard-pressed to contribute money to a film that may or may not be made by someone that they don't know, especially considering the prevalence of movies available on the web and in theatres that offer immediate satisfaction. Offering the film's profits is another option, but this will be met with similar skepticism as any investment opportunity, and the opportunity for scams could prove discrediting. Where crowdsourcing is concerned, the vision that is central to a filmmaker's creative production may have to be completely thrown out if the artistic direction, script, etc are left up to a crowd's decision. Even in the version of crowdsourcing one aspect of the film, such as the animation (as in the case of Mass Animation), there lies the overarching need to have a complete strategy and implementation team to manage and direct the project. It would simply be too expensive and time consuming for anyone short of a film studio or agency to pull off. How can a filmmaker leverage the awesome power of community building that crowdsourcing provides while maintaining their artistic control and direction? Perhaps one way to do this would be to open up other aspects of the film that normally are closed off to fans--showing how the film is being made while it is being made, for instance, or showing how the director interacts with the producer and his actors--which would be insightful for budding filmmakers to see and experience first hand. This opens up doors that were once closed off, effectively turning movie-watching business, which is usually a one-way street, into an experiential entertainment experience. An example of this type of integration of filmmaking and crowd participation that is currently underway is Fandom. Although Fandom creators are not seeking crowdfunding, it is using a model whereby members would gain behind-the-scenes access to the entire production process via the Fandom website.18 There will also be opportunities for the Fandom community to participate in open call for auditions, contests and to create the Fandom theme song. This model doesn't have to be limited to filmmaking; the experiential entertainment could be added to whatever fans want to see, be it concert tours to modern art exhibitions. The possibilities are endless. notes
1 http://www.indiegogo.com/
2 http://www.boingboing.net/2009/12/13/adventures-in-ex-ant.html
3 http://www.gcglaw.com/resources/entertainment/crowdfunding.html
4 http://www.buyacredit.com/
5 http://artemiseternal.com/
6 http://www.ageofstupid.net and more directly on their "money" page: http://www.ageofstupid.net/money
7 http://www.crowdsourcing.com/cs/
8 http://www.logolalia.com/alteredbooks/
9 http://royaloperahouse.wordpress.com/
10 http://www.longestpoemintheworld.com/
11 http://www.readwriteweb.com/archives/twitter_novels_not_big_success_stories.php
12 http://bizdharma.com/blog/advantages-and-disadvantages-of-crowdsourcing/
13 http://www.krunker.com/2008/11/17/intel-kicks-off-mass-animation-project/
14 http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/A_Swarm_of_Angels
15 http://www.boingboing.net/2006/05/05/50000_angels_will_fu.html
16 http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Cosmonaut_%28Film%29
17 http://mix.epicfu.com/forum/topics/campfire-is-crowdfunding-a
18 http://experiencefandom.com
Crowdfunding vs. Crowdsourcing in the Film Industry: What's the deal?
Finding the funds to make an artistic vision a reality has been a daunting task for many filmmakers. Attempts to get a major studio to back a little-known filmmaker's vision is virtually impossible as Hollywood studios only want to make movies that they determine will be profitable. Independent filmmakers are oftentimes relegated to a meager "starving artist" lifestyle in order to save money for their project. Whichever route the filmmaker has chosen, it has never been an easy task. Several studios and film festivals sought to ameliorate the situation with Miramax and Sundance playing a large part in the rise of independent film in the 90s. Miramax was known for producing and distributing movies that other big studios wouldn't dare touch (sex lies and videotape and Resevoir Dogs, to name a few), and the Sundance Film Festival helped the development of emerging screenwriters and directors by creating a national and international exhibition of new, independent dramatic and documentary films. Miramax wasn't without their detractors: they had a reputation of altering the creator's vision in order to make the 'independent' or foreign movie more marketable (see: Slingblade, Princess Mononoke, Clerks). Sure, the independent filmmaker finally had the funds to make their movie, but in the end, Miramax and the filmmaker are often fight head-to-head for final cut, often leaving the filmmaker feeling burned. Enter the aughts. The proliferation of internet users and social media have opened up new possibilities for filmmakers to acquire funding for their projects as never seen before. As The Blair Witch Project proved, marketing a film on the internet could produce powerful results: it was the most profitable independent film of the time, garnering support through grassroots internet marketing. Thus a new trend had begun with filmmakers leveraging the internet to market and even fund their filmmaking endeavour without sacrificing their original artistic vision. The internet and social media combine to form a quick and inexpensive way to reach out to a slew of people--whether it's to raise funds, create buzz or seek creative input. Thanks in part to these tools, independent filmmakers are now able to implement crowdfunding -- appealing to a group of people for financial support in order to complete a given project.Crowdfunding - an open call for financial support
As far as solving the very real problem of securing funding to create a film, crowdfunding creates viability for a filmmaker to produce his or her project without having to rely on funding from big studios, which, in turn, allows them to protect their artistic vision from being sacrificed. With the online tools available today, just about anyone with a computer and a cause can get attention for their project. Portal sites have been created to facilitate the process of crowdfunding. One such site is Indiegogo, a place where filmmakers can promote their film project and build a community of supporters that contribute the funds necessary for the film to be produced.1 In many cases crowdfunding works by selling some aspect of the film to the public, such as a spot in the end credits. Other filmmakers are able to offer the film as an investment that, if it sells, divies a portion of the profits to the investors. The difficulty in this, at least in the United States, is it can be defined as offering "an investment that is dependent upon the efforts of others," thus coming under very stringent securities regulations (see article in Boing Boing2 and Crowdfunding for Film3). By circumventing the traditional financing route that filmmakers take, independent filmmakers can have full artistic control and freedom to create their film in exactly the manner that they desire. Crowdfunding is not without its problems, however: if the funding level is not reached, the film doesn't get made. It's up to the filmmaker to prove that their venture is a viable one and one that will deliver its promises--a proposition that sounds reminiscent of many start-up businesses. Current and recent films that are utilizing crowdfunding include "Clovis Dardentor" which is based on an unpublished story by Jules Verne and is currently in the fundraising stages.4 Artemis Eternal, a sci-fi picture, is also currently in the fundraising stages in order to be able to complete production.5 Another work, The Age of Stupid -- a film on climate change -- was successful in raising the funds needed to complete production, and has had international screenings in 2009.6 Crowdsourcing - an open call for collaboration
In 2006, Jeff Howe of Wired Magazine coined the term "crowdsourcing" to refer to outsourcing a job that would normally be performed by a single agent to an unspecified group or "crowd" in the form of an open call.7 A very significant impact of this can be seen in open source software development and APIs (a la Mozilla and Twitter). The convergence of outsourcing to crowds and social media have created a symbiotic relationship for crowdsourcing to flourish. The development of online tools for community building and collaboration have made these types of collaborative projects possible between people from disparate countries. New directions have been paved through crowdsourcing creative ventures. The project "Altered Books"8 uses online communities to solicit modified book pages as a collaborative art project. Twitter has also been used as a forum for a number of collaborative creative projects including an opera, a sci-fi novel, and a book of poetry (see: Royal Opera House9 , The Longest Poem in the World10 and this article about the failure of novels written on Twitter11 ). There is debate, however, regarding the artistic merit of some of these collaborations; some speculation revolves around how to manage and direct these projects so that quality and cohesion are maintained (see article in BizDharma12 ). One project that found a way to integrate crowdsourcing and creative collaboration seamlessly is Mass Animation, developed by Yair Landau. It was the “first collaborative, worldwide effort to produce a computer-generated animated short film for theatrical release.” Backed by Intel, Mass Animation held an open call for participants to animate shots of “Live Music” – a 5 minute CGI-animated short film.13 Using Facebook as the platform for animators to learn about the project, join the collaboration and download the animating software, Mass Animation saw 57,000 fans on their Facebook page and 17,000 participants. Live Music received its theatrical debut as it was shown with TriStar pictures "Planet 51". Crowdfunding and Crowdsourcing - a marriage
There have only been a few film projects that are based on both crowdfunding and crowdsourcing, but I predict there will be many more as the model of crowdfunding is combined with idea of allowing the "crowd" to offer their creative input in the actual film production. One such example is "A Swarm of Angels."14 This project, started in 2006, had an open call for funders that closed after they had reached adequate funding. "Matt [Hanson, the creator will be] signing up angels in batches: first 100, then 1000, then 5000, then 25000, then 50000. At each stage, the angels get to participate in different parts of the film production: script development, teaser production, trailer production, pre-production planning, production, post-production, etc."15 Some filmmakers, such as director Nicolas Alcala and producers Carola Rodriguez and Bruno Teixidor, whose film The Cosmonauts (currently in the production), will have all the footage from their film available to the people who offered funding, making available the film's assets to its financiers.16
Experiential Entertainment: the next big thing?
I have found a number of debates revolving around the viability of crowdfunding and/or crowdsourcing independent films (see this discussion on Epicfu.com17 ). The question with crowdfunding is how to make it a worthwhile investment for potential financiers. When asked, many people have indicated that they would be hard-pressed to contribute money to a film that may or may not be made by someone that they don't know, especially considering the prevalence of movies available on the web and in theatres that offer immediate satisfaction. Offering the film's profits is another option, but this will be met with similar skepticism as any investment opportunity, and the opportunity for scams could prove discrediting. Where crowdsourcing is concerned, the vision that is central to a filmmaker's creative production may have to be completely thrown out if the artistic direction, script, etc are left up to a crowd's decision. Even in the version of crowdsourcing one aspect of the film, such as the animation (as in the case of Mass Animation), there lies the overarching need to have a complete strategy and implementation team to manage and direct the project. It would simply be too expensive and time consuming for anyone short of a film studio or agency to pull off. How can a filmmaker leverage the awesome power of community building that crowdsourcing provides while maintaining their artistic control and direction? Perhaps one way to do this would be to open up other aspects of the film that normally are closed off to fans--showing how the film is being made while it is being made, for instance, or showing how the director interacts with the producer and his actors--which would be insightful for budding filmmakers to see and experience first hand. This opens up doors that were once closed off, effectively turning movie-watching business, which is usually a one-way street, into an experiential entertainment experience. An example of this type of integration of filmmaking and crowd participation that is currently underway is Fandom. Although Fandom creators are not seeking crowdfunding, it is using a model whereby members would gain behind-the-scenes access to the entire production process via the Fandom website.18 There will also be opportunities for the Fandom community to participate in open call for auditions, contests and to create the Fandom theme song. This model doesn't have to be limited to filmmaking; the experiential entertainment could be added to whatever fans want to see, be it concert tours to modern art exhibitions. The possibilities are endless. notes
1 http://www.indiegogo.com/
2 http://www.boingboing.net/2009/12/13/adventures-in-ex-ant.html
3 http://www.gcglaw.com/resources/entertainment/crowdfunding.html
4 http://www.buyacredit.com/
5 http://artemiseternal.com/
6 http://www.ageofstupid.net and more directly on their "money" page: http://www.ageofstupid.net/money
7 http://www.crowdsourcing.com/cs/
8 http://www.logolalia.com/alteredbooks/
9 http://royaloperahouse.wordpress.com/
10 http://www.longestpoemintheworld.com/
11 http://www.readwriteweb.com/archives/twitter_novels_not_big_success_stories.php
12 http://bizdharma.com/blog/advantages-and-disadvantages-of-crowdsourcing/
13 http://www.krunker.com/2008/11/17/intel-kicks-off-mass-animation-project/
14 http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/A_Swarm_of_Angels
15 http://www.boingboing.net/2006/05/05/50000_angels_will_fu.html
16 http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Cosmonaut_%28Film%29
17 http://mix.epicfu.com/forum/topics/campfire-is-crowdfunding-a
18 http://experiencefandom.com
