On my seventh birthday, I wanted a toy fire truck, and I didn't get it, and you were real nice about it, and then the house next door burnt down, and then real firetrucks came, and for years I thought you set the fire for me. And if you did, you can tell me!

Xander ,'Same Time, Same Place'


Natter 70: Hookers and Blow  

Off-topic discussion. Wanna talk about corsets, duct tape, or physics? This is the place. Detailed discussion of any current-season TV must be whitefonted.


§ ita § - Jun 21, 2012 6:59:36 am PDT #10642 of 30001
Well not canonically, no, but this is transformative fiction.

well she talks as much as the developer?

But at least she has a note from her doctor, and is cutie patootie to boot. And she's volunteering herself for tasks.

And, thank god: the developer sent an "I can't do this!" note to me and her manager, which means it's both escalated and I'm in the loop and I get to respond to "let's break this down into discrete chunks and ask every possible question". Management needs to chime in with their extra special expert answers, but I'm on the record now.

ALSO, muffin recon was successful! The normal cafe was still out, but their sister restaurant across the way had gotten their shipment for some reason. So I've made myself new tea, and am starting the morning again.

If only I had more Flexeril...


§ ita § - Jun 21, 2012 7:25:29 am PDT #10643 of 30001
Well not canonically, no, but this is transformative fiction.

I was going to post this in Literary, but I decided I'd see if I could cast a wider net. Totally kills me bogus transition, not least of all because I'm serial posting, but:

Speaking of conflict or actual struggle (okay, I'm cheating the segue, but bear with me), I just re-found this article advocating for a non-conflict 4 act lens for fiction and reality: [link]

Does anyone have any grade school level examples of the kishotenketsu plot structure that I could read/watch to better understand it? Or alternate explanations so I can think more about it?


le nubian - Jun 21, 2012 7:57:03 am PDT #10644 of 30001
"And to be clear, I am the hell. And the high water."

apparently twitter is down.


Polter-Cow - Jun 21, 2012 8:01:50 am PDT #10645 of 30001
What else besides ramen can you scoop? YOU CAN SCOOP THIS WORLD FROM DARKNESS!

I heard some amazing jokes last night.

What's red and smells like blue paint?

Red paint.

What's the difference between a red thing and a blue thing?

They're both red, except for the blue thing.

Apparently red/blue jokes are hilarious to me.


Ginger - Jun 21, 2012 8:02:50 am PDT #10646 of 30001
"It didn't taste good. It tasted soooo horrible. It tasted like....a vodka martini." - Matilda

I think the person who wrote this document meant effectiveness. What he wrote was affectability.


tommyrot - Jun 21, 2012 8:03:40 am PDT #10647 of 30001
Sir, it's not an offence to let your cat eat your bacon. Okay? And we don't arrest cats, I'm very sorry.

What's red and blue and goes 50 mph in circles?

A smurf in a blender.


le nubian - Jun 21, 2012 8:04:14 am PDT #10648 of 30001
"And to be clear, I am the hell. And the high water."

damn. that's cold.


tommyrot - Jun 21, 2012 8:10:50 am PDT #10649 of 30001
Sir, it's not an offence to let your cat eat your bacon. Okay? And we don't arrest cats, I'm very sorry.

4 Modern K9s Worth Knowing About

Moscow has had a stray dog problem for almost two centuries, but while plenty of other cities have similar problems, Moscow is the only one where some strays have taken to using the subway just like the rest of the city’s citizens. The 500 or so dogs that have moved into the subway system aren’t feral monsters either –indeed, they’re some of the most civilized homeless dogs in the world. In fact, the dogs have trained themselves to identify which residents will give them food and which they should avoid.

While the animals still live in packs, the leader of these groups isn’t the strongest one, but instead the smartest one. The packs aren’t territorial and often the leaders will interact with one another –something unheard of in both wolf packs and packs of feral dogs. The packs will often deploy their cutest, smallest members to beg for food from people while the stealthier dogs will often sneak up behind people carrying food and then bark, spooking the person to drop their snack. Because the dogs have an easy time getting food, it is rare to see malnourished animals and many will even be highly selective about what scraps they take. While these pups have learned to rely on people for food and many are even very social, none of them are prone to becoming attached to people or relying on one particular person.

Many members of the pack have learned to recognize which subway station they want to get out on and some have even learned to observe traffic lights. As for their bathroom issues, well they may not know how to use toilets (yet), but they still are careful to only defecate outside in less trafficked areas. All of these unique behaviorisms have made them quite popular amongst researchers who seek to understand how the dogs have adapted, how they understand the subway system and how they will continue to evolve.

Fascinating.

(OK, now I'm picturing Spock in a Russian subway.)

eta:

I've never heard of coywolves before:

If you couldn’t tell by the name, coywolves are a hybrid between wolves and coyotes. They generally have more coyote in them then wolf and, while their gene pool is in a constant state of change right now, many scientists believe they are an emerging species.


DavidS - Jun 21, 2012 8:16:03 am PDT #10650 of 30001
"Look, son, if it's good enough for Shirley Bassey, it's good enough for you."

Kishōtenketsu contains four acts: introduction, development, twist and reconciliation. The basics of the story—characters, setting, etc.—are established in the first act and developed in the second. No major changes occur until the third act, in which a new, often surprising element is introduced. The third act is the core of the plot, and it may be thought of as a kind of structural non sequitur. The fourth act draws a conclusion from the contrast between the first two “straight” acts and the disconnected third, thereby reconciling them into a coherent whole.

The first thing I thought of was Doonesbury, which had a very influential four panel beat-structure. There was always a twist/joke/punchline/strangeness in the third panel, and the fourth panel was usually an after beat/ironic put-back kind of joke. When Bloom County got dinged for being a Doonesbury knockoff, mostly they were noting how it copied that particular comic rhythm.


Matt the Bruins fan - Jun 21, 2012 8:30:56 am PDT #10651 of 30001
"I remember when they eventually introduced that drug kingpin who murdered people and smuggled drugs inside snakes and I was like 'Finally. A normal person.'” —RahvinDragand

All of these unique behaviorisms have made them quite popular amongst researchers who seek to understand how the dogs have adapted, how they understand the subway system and how they will continue to evolve.

I suspect the Chinese are way ahead of the researchers on this: [link]