Tuesday, April 21, 2009

Non-Musical Interlude

I have been trying to make a technical manual sound interesting. Yes. I am doing some copywriting.

It's just a bit, but my mind is turning to mush now. I dare say I can only finish it tomorrow.

So many things to do.

Anyway, in unrelated developments, Rocky's blog has hit the 10 million visitor mark. An amazing achievement.

I remember, several years ago, I tried to sell him the idea of having an online gaming platform tie-in with The Malay Mail.

His response?

"I am interested in these things called blogs."

And then he asked me about it, as he had heard complaints filed, that I have one - a blog. And that I was swearing in it and promoting counter-culture.

I downplayed the significance of blogs, saying that it is merely a passing fad. Parroting what the Luddites told me, as they do not understand it and think they will do badly if they write online. Maybe they are right.

I had my agenda. I certainly did not want more people to do it.

Nothing to see here, Rocky. Move along, now.

Oh well.

His anniversary/landmark post was met with some degree of derision from Perasan Rakyat supporters, who would accuse anyone who don't agree with EVERYTHING PR does as being BN lapdogs.

I don't agree with everything Perasan Rakyat does. They suck just as much as the previous administration, maybe more, and yet claim to be superior. Morally. Mentally.

It's all a big con, I tell you.

New pictures of a certain sleeping politician have been bandied about on the Internet.

If before, I was disappointed, right now I am downright disgusted.

First of all, there is no porn in these pictures. No porn at all.

Secondly, armpit hair. Shudders.

Unflattering photos, I must say.

And it has no bearing whatsoever in say, hillside developments or the fact that Bangsar South (nee Pantai Dalam) has over 30 10-storey buildings under construction. And that some areas near Pantai Panorama is already showing signs of erosion. Or so sources say.

Haven't been to 'Bangsar South' in a while.

More of my friends are leaving the country. For good.

Funny. Several years ago, I got a number of people together and expounded on the virtues of migrating. I told them that this country is done for, and that we should all leave before the shit hits the fan.

Flash-forward, and I am the only one left. Two went to Australia. Four is in or will be in Canada, a few got UN jobs I directed them to, and are now in Switzerland and Germany. Some are in the UK. I know four more who are working towards migrating to the US.

My circle is decimated, and I do believe that before 2012 rolls along, I might be the only one left bitching about the country and its people.

Ah, well. What was it that Roman soldier said, in The Kindly Ones? Omnia mutantor, nihil inherit. Everything changes. Nothing is truly lost.

Which brings me to reading Neil Gaiman's website and his article about ideas. I find this one particularly interesting:

Every published writer has had it - the people who come up to you and tell you that they've Got An Idea. And boy, is it a Doozy. It's such a Doozy that they want to Cut You In On It. The proposal is always the same - they'll tell you the Idea (the hard bit), you write it down and turn it into a novel (the easy bit), the two of you can split the money fifty-fifty.

I'm reasonably gracious with these people. I tell them, truly, that I have far too many ideas for things as it is, and far too little time. And I wish them the best of luck.

The Ideas aren't the hard bit. They're a small component of the whole. Creating believable people who do more or less what you tell them to is much harder. And hardest by far is the process of simply sitting down and putting one word after another to construct whatever it is you're trying to build: making it interesting, making it new.



You can find it here.

I often find myself meeting people with The Big Ideas. And then they try to get me to do their stories, thinking the hard part is done. And that they did it. It would have been better if they pay me for the troubles, but no.

Oh well.

For the record, unless you're paying me to commission something, I am not going to turn your ideas into anything. Not because I am an arrogant bastard, and I may be, but like the armpit hair, it has no bearing in this.

It is because I have more than enough ideas that I would like to work on - ideas that would take more than a dozen lifetimes to develop.

And believe me, developing it is not as easy as it seems.

Tomorrow will be a full day. Engagements in the morning, afternoon and evening. And then I have to go home and finish this copywriting bit.

It is raining outside. Lightly. Great ambience to read a book, but I shouldn't. I should get some sleep and wake up fresh tomorrow morning.