Finally got a chance to watch Cool Hand Luke recently. It’s one of those films that are frequently referenced but infrequently seen.

Cool Hand Luke works mostly on the effectiveness of its actors. It’s an intensely character-driven piece, with very little action. It’s all about the relationships between the characters, how the bounce off each other.

I was struck by the other prisoners’ reaction to Luke. He’s very independent, seeing no need to observe the prisoners’ little hierarchy. He doesn’t try to upset it, either; he just ignores it. He wins the other prisoners’ respect out of sheer tenacity and difference.

Their reaction? They follow. As impressed as they are at his independence, none of them try to be independent. It’s almost like they expect him to live out their own dreams of independence. It’s a terrible burden, and in the end it’s one of the things that breaks him.

It’s a beautiful film, too, full of the rising and setting sun, reflections in glasses, and creative shots. But that’s frosting on the cake; the actors drive the film. And they drive it straight to eternity.

Some websites are informational. Some are entertainment. The Institute of Official Cheer is both. It’s an archive of old newspaper ads, comic books, children’s books, and strange magazine inserts. It pokes fun at the past, but with a twinkle in its eye; the proprietor (James Lileks) knows that they were just doing their best.

I bring this up because I spent a good chunk of today delving into its many, many subsites. There’s just so much content here, and Lileks’s writing skewers it with precision and style.

I published my Kindle Fan Guide several months ago, to quite some success. I’ve sold almost 300 copies so far.

I learned a lot during the process of publishing it. I had to log in to Amazon’s Digital Text Platform, though fortuately anyone can log in using an existing Amazon account. I then selected the option to upload a new book.

Kindle books have to be uploaded in HTML format. This turned out to be tricky, as I wrote the Guide in OpenDocument format in a word processor (NeoOffice). My word processor could certainly save as HTML, but the Digital Text Platform only accepts a certain subset of HTML.

So, I had to save the Guide as HTML, then go in and fix the HTML by hand using a text editor. Then I uploaded it. Fortunately, the Digital Text Platform lets you preview your work; fortunate, because the book didn’t look right at all. So I had to go back and tweak the HTML about a dozen times before it looked right.

Then I finished the process. However, Amazon’s systems take up to 24 hours to synchronize, so I had to wait until that was done. But when it was, I had a Kindle book ready to go.

As it stands, it might be easier to save the book as plain text, then add a few HTML elements for chapter breaks and such. But at least publishing on the Kindle is a relatively straightforward process. If you want to self-publish, the Kindle’s a fully reasonable choice.

Let me tell you about Ratliff.

Stephen Ratliff wrote fanfic (fan-written stories) about Star Trek: The Next Generation. I have nothing against fanfic. Most of it is bad, but most of anything is bad (Sturgeon’s Law). Fanfic’s a good training ground for writers.

Ratliff’s stuff, in comparison, was cheesy in a way that rivalled the worst movies used in Mystery Science Theater 3000. His stuff had poor spelling and grammar, simple characters, and some of the most unrealistic situations imaginable.

For example: His recurring characters comprised the “Kid’s Crew,” a set of nine-year-olds who pilot and crew a starship. Yes. Nine-year-olds. And they do very well; they quickly rise up the ranks of the Federation and resolve major political standoffs.

I mentioned MST3K. Online MST3K fans learned of Ratliff and pounced. His works were perfect fodder for riffing.

Then Ratliff got wind of this. His reaction should be a model for anyone who finds this happening to their work: He sent them his work. He notified MST3K fandom every time he released a new story. He even read the riffs.

And he paid attention.

As he produced stories and the kids grew into their teen years, they started acting up. They got weirded out. They became troubled, even depressed. And one character reflected that this was because they rose too far, too fast; that all this adventure and pressure was too much for children to handle.

Ratliff’s spelling improved, his characters deepened, and his stories became progressively less ridiculous. By the time I stopped reading his stories, he was producing solid fanfic. Nothing professional-quality yet, I’d judge, but he’d improved greatly.

How? By listening. By being a pro. He read a lot of stinging criticism, and he didn’t take offense at it. He extracted the important meaning from it and applied it to his work. And he kept writing.

I have tremendous respect for the man.

Because a number of folks have expressed interest in knowing how one person has implemented a productivity system, I’ve uploaded a video where I walk through mine. I take it from writing down a note to myself, through to processing it into my system, and how my system works.

You know how sodas contain quite a few chemicals and additives, right? Wish you could drink clean soda?

I’ve just uploaded a new video to my Cooking with CK website, explaining How to make root beer from scratch. The same directions should apply for any kind of flavor you want to add, from orange to ginger ale.

You know how sodas contain quite a few chemicals and additives, right? Wish you could drink clean soda?

I’ve just uploaded a new video to my Cooking with CK website, explaining How to make root beer from scratch. The same directions should apply for any kind of flavor you want to add, from orange to ginger ale.

Fight Club – The Novel

Awhile ago, I read the original novel of Fight Club.

I surprised myself by reading the entire book in two days. Granted, it’s a short novel, but normally I’m not that engrossed.

This was due to the novel’s differences from the film. Turns out, the film is an excellent adaptation of the novel, but many speeches and conversations in the novel are re-arranged to condense the story. The book focuses tightly on the narrator, and the tale wanders as the narrator’s mind wanders. A film can’t do that. So, for example, Tyler Durden’s “You are not a beautiful and unique snowflake” speech is composed of observations and bits of dialogue from Tyler scattered throughout the novel.

The novel ends in a completely different way than the film. I think I like the film’s ending better, though that’s personal preference for the ending’s style and content. The novel ends on a darker note than the film, though it’s a very Black Comedy sort of dark note.

I’m glad I read it. If I adapt something in the future, I’d learn a lot from a deep study of the differences between the book and the film.

Awhile ago, I read the original novel of Fight Club.

I surprised myself by reading the entire book in two days. Granted, it’s a short novel, but normally I’m not that engrossed.

This was due to the novel’s differences from the film. Turns out, the film is an excellent adaptation of the novel, but many speeches and conversations in the novel are re-arranged to condense the story. The book focuses tightly on the narrator, and the tale wanders as the narrator’s mind wanders. A film can’t do that. So, for example, Tyler Durden’s “You are not a beautiful and unique snowflake” speech is composed of observations and bits of dialogue from Tyler scattered throughout the novel.

The novel ends in a completely different way than the film. I think I like the film’s ending better, though that’s personal preference for the ending’s style and content. The novel ends on a darker note than the film, though it’s a very Black Comedy sort of dark note.

I’m glad I read it. If I adapt something in the future, I’d learn a lot from a deep study of the differences between the book and the film.

After Mystery Science Theater 3000 ended, I wondered if anyone else would pick up the mantle. They stumbled upon the formula of recording voice-over riffs of bad pop culture movies, and surely someone else would continue. The technology’s easy enough.

Someone’s done it: RomeoRhino.

RomeoRhino is a YouTube user who takes public domain instructional videos (and a few movies), records himself riffing on them, marries the two, and uploads them to YouTube.

He’s learned from MST3K: he doesn’t talk over the dialogue too much, he jokes as much as possible, he knows not to get too dark or sarcastic, and he keeps the jokes coming steadily throughout the entire video.

He posts a new video about once a week, and he’s been doing it for a year, so there’s plenty of material. Some of my favorites:

• The Snob
• Good Table Manners
• The Fun of Being Thoughtful
• What About Drinking?