Gee Whillickers

Apparently a large portion of youth agree with you Cole (I'm the same way, there's something about ink and paper..though I do have a fair number of e-books as well): http://www.theguardian.com/books/2013/nov/25/young-adult-readers-prefer-printed-ebooks

Here's an interesting study. We here have often discussed the craft of writing and our own emotional investment and reactions to what we are writing, as well as how we think this is important for the reader to get an emotional impact from our stories. Here's somebody putting this to the test: http://www.nytimes.com/2013/11/30/books/arnon-grunberg-is-writing-while-connected-to-electrodes.html?ref=arts&_r=0 A Dutch writer will write while all kinds of monitoring equipment is connected to him, including brain functions. Then, once the story is finished, 50 volunteers will read his story with the same equipment connected. The gathered data will be used for research.

http://www.aljazeera.com/news/europe/2013/11/scientists-find-new-super-strain-hiv-20131128194915726211.html

I'm quite enjoying this story.

Cole, I must admit some surprise. You're asking for a picture of a brazilian pussy being fingered? I mean, google should work fine, but watch for all the malware that will get installed when you clickety-click. Just saying...

I think we may be in danger of falling into the 'old fuddy duddy' department if we begin complaining about how encyclopedias and libraries were somehow 'better' for research than their modern equivalent. As always, the depth of research into a topic has less to do with where a person begins their search and far more to do with that person's ability to not stop looking when they touch upon the first vestige of somewhat related information. Their willingness to dig deeper, whether in a library on on the internet, their willingness to figure out context and related concepts. Yes, some students will copy two sentences from the google search synopsis when researching the topic at hand. Those are the same students who used to copy the encyclopedia article on "sublimation" verbatim, change the order of a few clauses, and hand that in as their essay. However, in that same class will be a student who explores the links, follows more links, follows other interesting referenced links, reads about related topics, and really learns something. "Holy crap! The teacher only mentioned three states of matter but there's actually six and maybe seven! That's amazing!" Kids today can find that out in half an hour where it would've taken much, much longer back twenty or more years ago. That's where the web, and the internet as a whole, really excels. The ability to access this kind of information is absolutely unprecedented in the history of humankind. I am arguing that the web is a far greater and stronger tool for research than libraries ever were. Indeed, that is why is was originally invented. I am also arguing that students can and will only benefit from its availability. The books are still there, and believe me, the kids who are interested are still reading them. The libraries are still there. They are important. Extremely important. They have not been replaced, but hugely, hugely, enhanced. Today's kids are exploring depths and availability of knowledge that would've made me weep for joy if the internet was around when I was twelve or thirteen years old. We're living in the science fiction dreams of my youth. At least when it comes to information and communication technology. And I am glad of it.

Just watched a bit of the first episode. It looks well done, I'm going to have to watch more.

My go to resource for slang or new usage I don't quite understand, Urban Dictionary, (urbandictionary.com) doesn't list sugardoodle.

I had a kid ask me the other day, "What was the world like before the internet? How did you find out anything?" Yeah. He was born and grew up in the internet world. Instant communication anywhere is taken for granted. Instant information about anything, good, bad or ugly, is taken for granted.

Just finished reading this. Another absolute gem by Cole. Perfect tension, timing, characterization. Very well done! Oh, and amazing artwork too! Thanks are due to Cole for this wonderful story and to Paco for the absolutely perfect artwork to accompany it.

As a lad it was all about Tom Baker for me, but I've learned to appreciate the other Doctors as well. I haven't watched this yet, but it's on my list.

I always have found that my own emotional reaction to what I'm writing is the best indicator of whether or not it will have the impact I want. If I'm not scared/amused/tense/confused/hurt/aroused/excited/etc by what I'm writing, then the reader won't be either when reading it. If I am, then they are more likely to be.

I agree with pretty much everything posted by Grant. It's an absolute travesty what is happening right now to our environment, all in the name of unsustainable greed and power. There is a TV commercial being broadcast right now. I'm sure Grant has likely seen it. It's utter and complete hogwash. Total proganda from the oil companies. It shows a BC woman dressed in outdoorsy clothes talking to the camera with pristine gorgeous wilderness behind her. She talks about how she loves the Canadian wilderness and all of what it offers as the camera pans in. Then, she smoothly segues onto how she supports the oil pipelines and in fact works for the oil company and therefore understands how this will somehow actually help support the environment. It's truly sickening. Whitewashing of the worse kind.

Taken just a few days ago, on November 9, 2013. Not by me, just linking to it. Also, obligatory: Northern Lights

No, just more of them. I believe there's something to the old adage about people in comedy having a lot of tragedy in their lives.

Well, I saw the movie tonight. Not my choice, I actually voted for Captain Philips, but Ender's Game won the day. It wasn't horrible. It was fairly well done, good acting by Harrison Ford, decent by Asa Butterfield. Excellent special effects. Nothing even close to the book. Literally nine tenths of the book was left out. But, of course, I expected that. It's always the case with book to movie adaptions. It's just, well, it's already all been said in this thread and others. I was a young teen when I read Ender's Game for the first time. It was one of those books..... One of those books.... One of those books that changes things. One of those books that shook fundamental things in my young teenage psyche of the time. I loved it. I really loved it. Then, much later, came some of his more recent books, and then all the news about the kind of person he seemed to be. Like the earlier linked article, it kind of rocked my world to think THAT man could write that particular book. Anyway, it was a decent movie. I won't see it again.

I loved it! That was just a perfect trope satire. I found myself thinking, "What?!" after the few paragraphs and then the penny dropped shortly thereafter. Very nicely done!

Don't forget, this is the country that brought you a school that banned all types of balls for use during recess after a child got a minor injury after being hit in the face with one. Today, the mayor of one of our largest cities (Toronto) finally admitted what everyone has known for months given the evidence, that he has indeed smoked crack cocaine. And he is still refusing to resign. (It's actually far worse than that, his known associates are shady types and gang members, and there are plenty of suspicions about his involvement in somebody dying due to their possibly having possession of the video that showed the mayor involved in drug use.) Yes, we have lots of nice things about our country, but don't for a second think it's some progressive paradise up here. We have idiots, wingnuts, psychos, and assholes along with the best (and worst) of them. Sigh. The school that banned balls had to recind the ban after a matter of days due to wonderful public backlash, thankfully. The mayor will no doubt fall on his sword, willingly or unwillingly soon enough--he's an amazingly self-destructive and mentally unstable man--and I suspect this kindergarten will think better of this decision awfully quickly. At least I hope so. I can imagine the public backlash they are about to get, I feel for their poor phone people over the next few days. Also, these are kindergartners. Thsi is completely, utterly, and totally impossible to enforce. It just can't happen. But, yeah, sorry about ruining everyone's picture of the socialist paradise up here. It just ain't so. Not even close.

Very interesting. Thanks for posting this. Best lines from the video: Boy asks interviewer where the word gay comes from, and is told it means 'happy.' The boy then asks, "If I got a box of microscopes, would I be gay?" Girl when answering question about why guys like guys or girls like girls, "If you go to a fancy restaraunt, they're just gonna be burping the whole time!" I hadn't realized she was sitting across from me last week. Oops. Some of those kids' comments were incredibly insightful. Very interesting.

Well, not exactly bluegrass, but here's a kid from my neck of the woods who plays drums. At eight years old he already has a bit of a name for himself. He and his parents are big on supports and help for parents and kids of premature births. This lad was a preemie born at about 1 pound birth weight. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=m-C3cXU8XbY

What an absolutely stunning and impressive list of stories this year. I've now read, and thoroughly enjoyed, every last one of them. James Merkin's Little Dog, Big Dog is an absolute gem of a ghost tale, not to mention a gem of a coming-of-age tale to boot. Extremely well done and excellent characters! Colin Kelly's I Can't Tell You is a wonderful tale of the ever-present communication problems, not to mention jumping to conclusions, that teens are so wont to engage in. This story is perfectly done with just the right amount of humor. Excellent writing! Lugnutz's The Mask is a wonderful story about the characters' growing relationship and the protagonist's need to live up to his father's memory as well as his own current needs and expectations. A real gem. Altimexis' Going Out on Halloween is a perfectly written wonderful story about the precocious character's struggle to let others know who he is, and wrestle with the very real fears he has as a result of this. Absolutely excellent story! Cole Parker's The Freak is an excellent short tale about two boys learning about themselves, each other, and certain tingling body parts. Very well done! Graeme's Life After Death is a perfect ghost story that includes love, longing, romance, and redemption, all bundled up with absolutely excellent writing, scene setting, and characters. Bravo!! Nigel Gordon's Waiting was a wonderfully dark and twisted tale of horror! Every line made me shudder, every word forced me to read more, right up until the perfect ending. Just excellent! My Story, My Halloween Wish, was intended to show a bit of how quickly things can change, for the better or, sometimes, much for the worse, if people's fears are allowed to rule the day. Cynus' The Drawbacks of Being A Monster is probably the best first story by a young and new writer I've seen here. What an entrance! An excellent tale, very entertaining and wonderfully romantic. James Savik's Case Black: Part One is an absolutely wonderful start to a perfect James Savik story, and is leaving me hankering impatiently for more! Hopefully soon! What an absolutely impressive group of stories, guys. I am so very pleased and proud to be a part of such a wonderful and talented group of authors. Well Done!!

Three brothers from New Jersey, not exactly a bluegrass hotbed. Here's the Sleepy Man Banjo Boys