My 10 Most Popular Posts

The number of hits I get on a post on my blog can vary quite a lot. Of course I like it when I get a large number of hits. What is it about my popular posts that makes them so popular?

In addition to my own blog, I post on Blogger and FaceBook. The popularity of my posts are quite different on each of these sites. I picked the top 10 based on my own site, and will mention some popular posts on the other sites.

10. Return to Blogging

http://dynamiclethargyfilms.ca/return-to-blogging/

In this post I talked about restarting my blog. I had stopped because I had to help take care of my wife while she was sick. As such, this was a more personal post than I usually write. It was also the most popular post, by far, on FaceBook.

A closely related post: My Own Conflicts http://dynamiclethargyfilms.ca/my-own-conflicts/ was the second most popular on FaceBook.

I don't feel comfortable writing posts that are too personal, but it is also clear that those kinds of posts are usually more popular.

9. I Finally Brought A Long Held Dream to Fruition

http://dynamiclethargyfilms.ca/i-finally-brought-a-long-held-dream-to-fruition/

This is my post to promote my Doc Savage novella: "The 89th Key". http://dynamiclethargyfilms.ca/stories/the-89th-key/

The release of a major piece of work does attract more attention that a progress update. Of course, I need to have something to release in order to do a post like this.

8. New Ideas for Transportation Planning Stories

http://dynamiclethargyfilms.ca/new-ideas-for-transportation-planning-stories/

I've worked on several projects that have transportation planning as a background. While my movie "The Barrier" is still at version 0.6, I wanted to start on a new project. I am glad to see that the topic does still attract some interest. As it was, I got side tracked onto other projects. Maybe I can get back to this next year.

7. The Lester Dent Master Fiction Plot Test Drive

http://dynamiclethargyfilms.ca/the-lester-dent-master-fiction-plot-test-drive/

I first posted this in December of 2010, so despite being an old post, it still draws new visitors.

Lester Dent was a prolific pulp writer back in the 1930s and 1940s and is best known for writing most of the Doc Savage stories. I came across an article he wrote about what he called his master fiction plot. It is a formula for a action adventure pulp story. I found that it helped me improve my writing.

I've experimented with variations of the formula; mostly by trying to adapt it to other types of stories. Some people denigrate "formula writing", but I find it a valuable tool. Certainly at some stages of writing, it can really get things going. I find that when I don't follow this structure, it becomes very difficult to write.

The popularity of this post reflects the interest that writers have in tools they can use for writing. In the original post I included a link to the article, but the link went dead, so I added a copy of the article to the end of the post, so that it is available to people who find my post.

6. My New Website Theme: As The Goals Change

http://dynamiclethargyfilms.ca/my-new-website-theme-as-the-goals-change/

Late last year I started to develop a new WordPress theme for my website. I'm not sure why it should be so popular. In the end I abandoned my new theme and picked one of the free themes that are available. I did make a few modifications, and would like to make some more, but this is a low priority for me.

5. "2001: A Space Odyssey"  and H. P. Lovecraft

http://dynamiclethargyfilms.ca/2001-a-space-odyssey-and-h-p-lovecraft/

2001 was and is my favourite movie. I've also had an interest in H.P. Lovecraft. One day I was struck by the idea that there was a connection between the two, so I wrote up my thoughts on it.

I posted this back in April of 2014, so this is another old post that keeps drawing in readers.

4. My Film Equipment Repair Adventure

http://dynamiclethargyfilms.ca/my-film-equipment-repair-adventure/

I have an old Sankyo Dualux 1000 super 8/ regular 8 projector that belonged to my parents. Unfortunately, the drive belt wore out and broke. I tried to find a replacement belt, but they are expensive. I experimented with using an O-ring and a rubber band.

It seems that a lot of other people have the same projector, and the same problem with the drive belt. I posted this in February 2012 and still get hits on this page frequently.

2. and 3. Experiments With the Trial Version of nawmalMAKE and The New Nawmal: Good News for "The Barrier"

http://dynamiclethargyfilms.ca/experiments-with-the-trial-version-of-nawmalmake/

http://dynamiclethargyfilms.ca/the-new-nawmal-good-news-for-the-barrier/

I wrote these two posts about NawmalMake. It is a rerelease of the old Xtranormal program that I used to make "The Barrier" and "Make ’ em Squirm: The Sharkbiter Way".

http://dynamiclethargyfilms.ca/the-barrier/

http://dynamiclethargyfilms.ca/filmlist/make-em-squirm-the-sharkbiter-way/

I was quite glad to see it rereleased, so I could do a final version of "The Barrier". Unfortunately, the timing isn't good for me, so I haven't been able to take advantage of the new release. I did some tests though.

The one big worry I have is that the new company will not be able to make a go of it and the program will no longer be available when I have time to use it. The fact that these two posts are attracting a lot of hits even months after it was posted tells me that there is some interest in the program. This is a positive sign for the future of the program.

1. Conversational Films: A Small Genre

http://dynamiclethargyfilms.ca/conversational-stories/conversational-films-a-small-genre/

One of my favourite films is Linklater's "Before Sunrise". I've had the urge to make something similar. In this post I look at similar movies that would call conversational films. I only identified a few, but I suspect there are some more I am unaware of.

I'm not sure why this post should be so popular. Even though it was posted back in March 2012, it was still my most popular post this year. Maybe there is a desire out there for similar movies.

I wrote my story "The Crying Woman" as the basis for a movie like this, but I haven't followed up on it yet. http://www.dynamiclethargyfilms.ca/stories/the-crying-woman/

Honourable Mention: Do Ancient Alien Probes Watch Earth?

http://dynamiclethargyfilms.ca/do-ancient-alien-probes-watch-earth/

While this post did not attract much attention on my site or FaceBook, it was very popular on Blogger. No one made any comments, but I think that may be a good thing. Many of the people who would be interested would be interested in the conspiracy theory aspects of the idea, and would not be very positively disposed to my more sceptical approach to the idea.

This post is a mirror from my main blog http://www.dynamiclethargyfilms.ca/blog

Hal and The Starchild in 2001: A Space Odyssey

2001: A Space Odyssey has fascinated me since I first saw it back in 1968. I didn't understand it and I've tried to gain a better understanding ever since. There were times when I thought I understood it, then later realized that there was more to the film than I had thought.

I want to explore one aspect of the film in this post. It is an idea that has floated about in my head for many years and I really don't know if I read it somewhere, or came up with it on my own.

The thrust of the story is the evolution of man from ape-man to starchild. I would expect that with Kubrick and Clarke would have everything in the movie relate to that in some way.

What bothered me about the sequence on the Discovery that involves the astronauts and HAL is that it doesn't seem to relate. It felt to me as if it were merely a bit of story action to take up time.

There does seem to be an explanation that links HAL's story to the larger story. At the end of the film the aliens/monolith appears to transform Bowman into something new: the starchild.

This is paralleled in the HAL story where Bowman disconnects HAL. HAL reverts to a child like state. HAL's last words are "I'm ready for my first lesson." Like the aliens with human, humans have created HAL's intelligence. In the end they realize that this intelligence has its dangers, so Bowman must reset HAL. Humanity has failed in its attempt to create intelligence.

This brings up the question of exactly what happens to Bowman at the end. Do the aliens, as I originally thought, elevate Bowman, and therefore Humanity, to the next level? Or, do they, like Bowman, realize that they have failed to create the intelligence they wanted? Are they then, as with HAL, reset Bowman to a new starting point.

The parallels between HAL and Bowman/Starchild suggests a different interpretation of the ending. It is not that Bowman has moved on to a new higher level, but rather that he has been sent back to start over again. At the end of the Dawn of Man story in the book, it says of Moonwatcher: "He would think of something." At the end of the book the same words are used in reference to the starchild. This sounds to me as more of a reset than a elevation.

I think the question about what happens at the end brings a focus on the ability of the aliens. Are they so advanced that they make no mistakes? If so, then they would elevate Bowman to the next level. If they can make mistakes, then what happens to Bowman is a reset. The aliens are so advanced beyond our level of understanding, that we humans are unlikely to be able to tell the difference. Punishment and reward are indistinguishable to us.

This post is a mirror from my main blog http://www.dynamiclethargyfilms.ca/blog

It's Time To Pick My Next Project

Now that my story "Tom Swiftly and His Incredible Traffic Model" is done, it is time to think about my next project. What with Christmas coming up and snow on the ground, I might not get started until the new year.

I completed four projects this year:

·         "Summer's Too Short" http://dynamiclethargyfilms.ca/filmlist/summers-too-short/

·         "The 89th Key" http://dynamiclethargyfilms.ca/stories/the-89th-key/

·         "Pete's Plan" http://dynamiclethargyfilms.ca/stories/petes-plan/

·         "Tom Swiftly ..." http://dynamiclethargyfilms.ca/stories/tom-swiftly-and-his-incredible-traffic-model/

All of these were projects that I stated long before this year. In the case of "The 89th Key" it was some 43 years before! I did start on one project, "The Disruptors", but didn't get far with it. So I haven't really started a new project for quite some time. I concentrated my efforts on some of my unfinished projects.

Movies

I have almost 40 unfinished movie projects. Most of these are little more than a few notes about the idea, but I have four feature length scripts and one detailed outline. There are also a couple of my short stories that I think could be done as movies. I've decided to treat most of these as writing exercises. When I read them over I feel no urge to finish them.

There are a few exceptions.

I think that I'd like to do something with "Bright Freedom", and earlier I decided to turn it into a novella. I worked on it for a short time this year, but dropped it for other projects. (http://dynamiclethargyfilms.ca/category/film-projects/bright-freedom/)

"The Crying Woman" could make a good movie. At this point though I'm not sure where to go with it. I would like to do a new movie with Nawmal and I think this might work. On the other hand, it might be better if I worked with live actors and have them improvise. (http://www.dynamiclethargyfilms.ca/stories/the-crying-woman/)

"The Barrier" is not really finished. I called the most recent version release 0.6. There are a few changes I'd like to make to the dialogue and story, but the main think I want to do is replace the artificial voices with actor's voices. (http://dynamiclethargyfilms.ca/the-barrier/)

These two movies are major projects and in my current situation, I really don't have the ability to take them on. I haven't had any ideas for shorter projects, which would be a more realistic goal. I would have to come up with some ideas first.

Stories

I have about 25 unfinished story projects. As with my movie ideas, most of these no longer inspire me to complete them. There are bits and pieces of them that I think are good, but a story isn't just a few bits and pieces tossed together. Maybe I can cannibalize some of this material in other projects.

I enjoyed writing my novella "The 89th Key" this year, and would like to do something similar. This lead to my idea for "The Disruptors". Before I can write that I really need to do some more research and develop the background and characters. I found that my familiarity with the background and characters in "The 89th Key" made it much easier to write.

I have drafts of both my "Bright Freedom" script conversion and my SF story "Felix".  I would like to have those finished. I have tried rewrites on both of these, but I got stuck on both. I've started to wonder if I should just abandon what I've done so far and restart from scratch on them.

I've wanted to do another transportation planning story, like "The Barrier", but I haven't come up with anything so far. I think that part of my problem is that I've tried to do a new story with the same characters as I had in "The Barrier". It maybe that I just feel like I've already told their story and there isn't really anything more I want to say about them. If I came up with some new characters that could get me started.

Video Presentation

There is another project I want to take on. I have been involved for many years with The Society for the Study of Egyptian Antiquities. (http://www.calgaryssea.ca/) They put on a series of talks on Ancient Egypt. I've felt I should contribute, but I am just not up to giving a learned talk. I do think I could put together a video instead.

My first idea  was to do a video about King Tut. After all, nobody has ever done much about him. ;) I did some preliminary research to see if I could come up with a story and some visual material I could use. My interest petered out and I dropped the idea.

I thought I should do something about how the pyramids were built. That would fit into my background in civil engineering. Again, after some preliminary research, I lost interest in the idea.

My current idea is to do something about Agatha Christie in Egypt. She visited Egypt and the middle east several times and these visits were an important part of her life. Three of her books are set in Egypt. I did a little research and found some material. I haven't delved into it yet, so I'm not sure that I can turn it into an interesting video.

I've never done a documentary, and never really had a desire to do so. Strangely enough I usually prefer documentary movies to fictional ones. That said, I think this would be a good project for me to pursue.

This post is a mirror from my main blog http://www.dynamiclethargyfilms.ca/blog