Elsewhere

This weblog is now officially closed down.

You can find me elsewhere:

• Flavors.me
• Twitter (@blackwood and @IWorkForLEGO)
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Script Frenzy Report Card 2009

Just in time for the 2009 Script Frenzy I’ve updated the Report Card. It’s more or less the same version as the one from last year, with just the dates adjusted.

This is an modified version of some of the report cards from NaNoWriMo to suit the needs for Script Frenzy.

• Script Frenzy Report Card 2009 (Microsoft Excel 2003).

I did not create this. I merely modified it for Script Frenzy. All credit for creation and idea goes to the original creators.

Ch-Ch-Ch-Changes

Big changes are coming.

First of all, I quit my job at NNIT. This Friday is the last day at work.

This upcoming Monday I’m starting as a Project Manager at the design company 1508 A/S, which I’m looking forward to as a little kid is waiting for Santa to swing by on Christmas Eve.

1508 is located smack in the middle of central Copenhagen, which also means that my commuting time will be cut in half (NNIT is located around 14 km north of Copenhagen).

The last 6 months or so, I’ve been longing more and more to work in a creative environment again. And I think I can claim without hurting anyone’s feelings that there are very few creative people employed at NNIT. This is a good thing for them and their services. However, it just wouldn’t cut it for me. I need people with crazy ideas and urge to draw and create and try out new approaches. Even as a project manager I’m much more comfortable in these kinds of environments.

It’s also a direct extension of the topics covered in my master thesis, and the kind of roles I’ve previously held in the entertainment business (movies and games).

In a time of financial crisis and the entire world collapsing around us, the sensible thing to do would be to stay with one of the larger IT companies in Denmark with solid profits and growth, but my parents always thought me to follow my heart in all matters in life. Lately my heart has not been with me when I was working at NNIT.
Nevertheless, I’ve liked working there, now was just the time to move on and try something new (or something old, depending on your view).

On another note of change, we have also sold our 3 room apartment, and will April 1 be moving into a huge 5 room rented flat that seriously defines description. Even if you look at the images on their website, you really do not get a full understanding of how nice these flats are.

Things are changing indeed.

I hate computers

No, seriously, I hate ‘em. I’ve said it before elsewhere, I think they are fundamentally flawed.

They are slow, expensive, confining and proves overall a huge hinderers for how the human mind works.

Mind you, this is not a Windows vs. Macs vs. Linux kind of argument. I hate ‘em all equally.

There really is something wrong with the way computers are designed. The basic premise of computers is that they’re meant as a way of assisting you in your work. But compared to other objects, computers are very sensitive and extremely dumb. Further more you need quite a level of knowledge to operate them properly.

They offer very little in the way of real assistance. You have to learn their language and their way of seeing the world. And even though that multi-touch interfaces are a huge step in the right direction I still feel that computers are designed wrong.

Remember this is coming from a guy with a master degree in computers. Not to flaunt my feathers, but I’ve been dealing with computers for the better part of 20+ years and even make my living by consulting others about their organizations and IT systems.

Compared to (paper) notebooks, there is very little knowledge required in order to use them. Heck even my three year old son have been using pen and paper for most of his life.

The very notion that computer can “crash” is just wrong. My pen and paper don’t crash. I can ruin them by spilling water all over them, but then it’s my own fault and I would expect that spilling a cup of coffee all over my notebook would render it unreadable. That’s “My bad”.

But computers crash and even have the audacity of sometimes tell me that “An Unexpected Error Occurred”. Fuck yeah, it was unexpected! I paid $2.000 for this piece of crap and I was actually working on something important, so yeah, it was fucking unexpected.

If my computer crashed because I spilled coffee in it, so be it. That would be expected. But just crash, because you fell like it, or because I did “An Illegal Action” that is not fucking okay. Okay?

I think it’s truly sad that the modern world is so assimilated by computers, when they’re working so badly. Any other tool we use in our everyday life would never survive two days if they worked as bad as computers. But for some unexpected reason computers have.

I’m ranting and rambling here. Nobody will properly listen anyway, but I just had to get if off my chest. There.

… although I’m not really feeling any better. So I’ll just sing along with Three Dead Trolls In A Baggie; Every OS Sucks.

Amen, brother, amen.

Apartment for sale in Copenhagen

If you’re in the market for an apartment in Copenhagen take a look our wonderful one at its own website: Haraldsgade-KBH.dk (it’s in Danish only)

Sold!

Story Trick #5: The Prestige

The Article has moved.

Please go to StoryDojo.com for the article:

Story Trick: Foreshadowing and Payoff in The Prestige

It’s done

If you by any chance would be looking for the proudest person in Copenhagen at the moment, look no further, because here I am.

I just uploaded my latest¹ version of my feature length screenplay Downfall to the wonderful website TriggerStreet.com².

It has really been a learning experience to write this screenplay. I loved the month of April when I was witting the script as part of the Script Frenzy event, but was so exhausted afterward that I had to leave it alone for some weeks before looking at it again.

And when I finally did, I found a screenplay in need of some serious rewriting. And that is what I’ve spent most of my free time doing for the past months.

The structure of the story is somewhat unchanged, but the pacing, the dialogue, the descriptions have all been changed, corrected or rewritten completely.
Even some of the main characters where merged into one to keep the entourage down to a minimum.

So now, all I have to do is wait for the hungry review vultures of TriggerStreet.com to rip it to pieces and tell me why and where I need to revise the script.

But right now I’m happy as a lark and above proud. Very proud.

1. Latest, not final… it’s never really final [↩]
2. if you’re a member of TriggerStreet, fell free to give it a spin, but please be truthful as that’s the only way I’ll learn anything [↩]

Story Trick #4: Refusing the Call

This new installment in the Story Trick series¹ is not even written by me.

For some time I’ve been reading up on Joseph Campell and his Monomyth theory and how it could be applied to modern storytelling. Christopher Vogler² has written an excellent introduction on how to apply it to screenwriting.

Now David Anaxagoras has written a really good article about one of the stages of the monomyth, Refusing the Call.

>>> Read David’s article here

There is no need for me to write about this when David has already written such a good and explanatory article. Be sure to check out some his other articles on his newly launched website. It’s all great stuff.

1. For the rest of the Story Trick articles see #1 on Eastern Promises, #2 on Michael Clayton and #3 about the basic structure beats [↩]
2. His book The Writer’s Journey have just been released in it’s 3rd edition [↩]

Teknokratiet

The wonderful site Teknokratiet has accepted my article on multi-touch interfaces, so for all the Danish reading people out there I proudly urge you to go and read my article and some of the numerous others at the site.

It’s all great stuff.

3 years

Today is the birthday of my son Carl. He’s three. He’s one of the big boys now.

He has developed a great sense of humor; the other day we’re reading some books sitting in the couch and he suddenly curled up and said “I so so teeeerrible sad” and looked away. I of course asked him what was wrong and he just started to giggle and turned around to face me again and to show me that he had taken two pacifiers in his mount. “I’m double sad” he said smiling from ear to ear. That, of course, could only be cured by 10 minutes of intents tickling.

Oh, and he laughs at my jokes as well. I’ve been waiting quite a few years for a fresh audience.