Wednesday, September 28, 2005
Weekly Reader
Dariafans Mike Xeno and Mike Nassour have made it back home after Hurricane Rita.
At the PPMB:
Scissors MacGillicutty completed Chapter 7, Part 9 of "Where's Mary Sue When You Need Her?"
Angelboy completed "Dariatation".
Richard Lobinske completed "Is It Doom Yet?" (Daria/Fantastic Four)
Mr. Orange and Mathilde finished Chapter 4 of "Le dernier été".
At the SFMB:
ostragoth posted a new part of "Estrangesters".
Fan art: Daria as "Darfield" by Wouter Jaegers.
Tuesday, September 27, 2005
Ssssssssssmokin’!
Martin Pollard did indeed do a double update (25 and 26 September) to Outpost Daria. The major change was a re-working of the Makeovers section, both in design and in catching up on several years of such submissions.
And now, for me, back to Computer Upgrade Purgatory, this time getting Nero Showtime to play a "Daria" DVD without the sound getting out of sync {rueful smile} ...
... but first, a big loogie in the eye of the California Department of Health Services, and their incessant "Imagine a world without cigarettes" TV ads, driving me (and my tax-stung wallet) crazy in the background. Take this, nanny-state cretins, from "Is It Fall Yet?"
Friday, September 23, 2005
Where's Hurricane Quinn?
Daria fan Mike Xeno has had to head for dry ground due to Hurricane Rita. Let us know that you're all right as soon as you can, Mike!
Martin Pollard intends to update Outpost Daria this weekend.
At the PPMB:
E.A. Smith and Renfield posted the "Holding On" interview.
Richard Lobinske posted Parts 8 and 9 of "Is It Doom Yet?" (Daria/Fantastic Four crossover)
Deceleraptor posted a new part of "Human Beings in the Vall(e)y of the Short Grass".
Fan art: by Angelinhel.
Wednesday, September 21, 2005
Two Tests Later.....
...I'm back and ready to post again.
From The Daria News Archive :
DARIA fans in Australia can begin counting the days to the return of DARIA to the airwaves. Australian national broadcaster ABC will start showing DARIA again at 5:38pm on Friday October 7th.
[Thanks to Irony Maiden newshound Ame.]
PPMB Board Moderator Kara Wild has returned from her trip to Spain.
At the PPMB:
sleepless completed Chapter 33 of "Yuki-Onna".
sleepless also posted Part 10 of "Broken Connections".
Ranger Thorne posted several parts of "Daria/Star Wars: How it Began".
Ranger Thorne also posted Chapter 5 of "Shadow of a Cynic".
psychotol posted Part 4 of "Living Dead Girls 5: Chaos".
Deceleraptor posted "Human Beings in the Vall(e)y of the Short Grass".
Angelboy posted another part of "Dariatation".
Richard Lobinske is up to Part 6 of "Is It Doom Yet?" (Daria/Fantastic Four)
The Angst Guy posted a teaser for a new fic, "All Shall Love Me and Despair". (Daria/Lord of the Rings)
At the SFMB:
coyote and Willow posted Chapter 11 of "How the Other Half Lives" at the hidden forum of the SFMB.
Roentgen posted Chapter 5.4 of "Legion of Lawndale Heroes".
Holiday completed "Photographic Evidence".
Fan art: the Fashion Club at Christmas by Angelinhel. Full size link is here .
Wednesday, September 14, 2005
Glitter Berries Updates
The Glitter Berries site has updated. Click here to see what's new. Among the many updates is the return of the Daria Character Database by Mike Yamiolkoski.
Also from Kemical Reaxion: due to other people posting her art and claiming it as their own creation, Kemical Reaxion will be removing her art from nearly all Daria fan sites. However, her art can still be found on her own site.
At the PPMB:
Holiday completed "Photographic Evidence" (found in the "Daria's Photography?" thread in "Deep Thoughts").
Angelboy completed Chapter 2 (Part 3) of "Dariatation".
Angelboy completed Part 1 of "Diary Entries".
Scissors MacGillicutty completed Chapter 7, Part 8 of "Where's Mary Sue When You Need Her?"
Roentgen completed "Cleopatra, Queen of the Nile".
Mike Xeno completed Chapter 12 of "Sarcasm at 1600".
Richard Lobinske completed "Falling Into College 39 - And The Bubble Burst".
Ranger Thorne completed "Rifts" (Daria/Star Wars crossover).
Mathilde posted Episode 3 of "Le dernier été" (a translation of a work by Richard Lobinske into French).
At the SFMB:
The Great Saiyaman posted Pages 28 and 29 of "Party At Lindy's" in the hidden section of SFMB. Since these pages aren't naughty, they are also posted at "The Easel" at the PPMB.
Sunday, September 11, 2005
Bric-a-Brac
At the PPMB:
Richard Lobinske completed Part 5 of "Falling Into College 39 - And the Bubble Burst".
Prince Charon pointed out the existence of "Misery Chick, Pig-Tailed Warrior" (a Daria/Ranma 1/2 crossover) by Cypher3au. The link is here .
Lawndale Stalker added a new scene to "Once Upon a Time at College".
At the SFMB:
coyote and Willow completed Chapter 10 of "How the Other Half Lives" at the hidden forum.
Bric-a-brac: by Ranchoth. (Full sized link is here .)
Friday, September 09, 2005
Lay Off the Caffeine
At the PPMB: Richard Lobinske completed Part 4 of "Falling Into College 39 - And the Bubble Burst".
At the SFMB: coyote and Willow completed Chapter 9 of "How the Other Half Lives" at the hidden forum.
Fan art: Mr. DeMartino by distasty. Found at DeviantArt by Kemical Reaxion, link not provided due to DeviantArt's bizarro policies.
Thursday, September 08, 2005
Triste Monde Tragique to Return
From Father Martin Sylvester at The Daria News Archive:
DARIA will return to the schedules of Australian national broadcaster ABC some time in October.
[Thanks to Deref for kindly phoning ABC for me to confirm this news]
From Kara Wild at The DVDaria Blog :
I spoke to my MTV source, who told me that the department has no plans to put out Daria yet. However, he said that the new direct response rep has settled in and the new MTV label for DVDs is doing really well. They have high hopes that the upcoming Beavis and Butt-head release will keep up the momentum. My personal feeling is that if it does do well, it could pave the way for Daria's release, whereas if it doesn't, Daria could be shelved. As it so happens, how Daria came into being will be mentioned in a featurette on the B&B DVD set.
My source said that MTV Home Video is currently trying to figure out its 2006 schedule and that I should contact him again in November. So until November, we'll just have to hope.
Ms. Wild will be on vacation until September 18, 2005. Steven Galloway will manage the Paperpusher Message Board until she returns.
Daria fan Mr. Orange contacted the site owner of Triste Monde Tragique, which had some problems with its web hosting. The site should be back up soon.
At the PPMB:
E. A. Smith posted an interview with Angelinhel regarding "An Angel Named Mary Sue".
The Angst Guy is looking for beta readers for Part 9 of "Pause in the Air".
Ranger Thorne posted a link to "Rifts", a Daria/Star Wars crossover.
Angelboy completed Chapter 2, Part 2 of "Dariatation".
DJW completed Chapter 6 of "The Dammitall Run".
Richard Lobinske completed Parts 1 through 3 of "Falling Into College 39 - And The Bubble Burst".
sleepless posted Parts 8 and 9 of "Broken Connections".
At the SFMB: Roentgen posted Chapter 5.3 of "Legion of Lawndale Heroes".
Monday, September 05, 2005
On Descriptive Writing
I borrowed this passage from a blog entry from conservative blogger Francis W. Porretto:
Many a novice fictioneer labors over description -- when to do it; how much of it to do; what to leave in and what to leave out -- as he does over no other aspect of the narrative craft. Strangely, the preponderance of the anxieties felt in this regard are unnecessary. Description is actually a much easier, and more easily comprehended, matter than most writers think.
Granted that first-class description can produce a unique effect:
Day was opening in the sky, and they saw that the mountains were now much further off, receding eastward in a long curve that was lost in the distance. Before them, as they turned west, gentle slopes ran down into dim hazes far below. All about them were small woods of resinous trees, fir and cedar and cypress, and other kinds unknown in the Shire, with wide glades among them; and everywhere there was a wealth of sweet-smelling herbs and shrubs. The long journey from Rivendell had brought them far south of their own land, but not until now in this more sheltered region had the hobbits felt the change of clime. Here Spring was already busy about them: fronds pierced moss and mould, larches were green-fingered, small flowers were opening in the turf, birds were singing. Ithilien, the garden of Gondor now desolate kept still a dishevelled dryad loveliness. [J. R. R. Tolkien, The Lord Of The Rings, "The Two Towers"]
...one cannot over-indulge in such effects without losing the reader.
Why? Because of Brunner's First Law of Fiction: The raw material of fiction is people. More specifically, what your characters are saying, doing, and doing to one another.
Elmore Leonard, famed for his humor-laced thrillers, was once asked by a fan why he wrote so few descriptive passages, and kept them so short. Leonard smiled and replied, "I try not to write the parts that people skip."
Ponder that. The typical reader skips descriptive passages. Why? Not because they're badly written, though some surely are; they're skipped because most description contributes nothing to the forward movement of the story!
Remember how a typical reader chooses the books he'll read:
* He heads for the section(s) of the bookstore where he can find his favorite genre(s).
* He looks first for authors whose works have pleased him in the past.
* If he doesn't find any unread works by familiar, approved writers, he scans spines and covers for clever titles and provocative art.
* When a title or cover painting catches his fancy, he picks it up and reads the back-cover or dust-jacket blurb. If it fails to intrigue him, he puts the book back on the rack and resumes his search.
* If the blurb has, at the least, not dimmed his tentative interest, he opens the book to the first chapter and reads one or two pages. If these don't impress him, he passes on.
* If the first page or two engage his interest, he might riffle the pages of the book, scanning it for "density." That is, he looks to see how tightly the words are packed on a typical page. If it's too high -- that is, if descriptive and pure-narrative passages overwhelm dialogue and character interaction -- he passes on.
* Finally, if all the above tests have been satisfied and his funds will allow, he buys the book.
To be agreeable to the overwhelming majority of readers, fiction must concentrate on dialogue and active events in the lives of his characters. A writer who forgets or disdains this pattern and concentrates on description might get invited to a lot of faculty teas, but he won't sell many books.
For all of that, some description is necessary if you want the reader to see your fictional world vividly. But there are guidelines to make it plain when it's necessary, how much of it there should be, and what specifically one should describe. These guidelines are nicely synopsized in the imperative: Cultivate an eye for the telling detail.
(/end quote)
My comments on the passage:
The passage from Tolkein. Porretto uses Tolkein to show that descriptive elements, carefully chosen, can enchance the experience of reading. I believe this is a wonderful bit of narrative, but the problem with Tolkein, in my opinion, is that there are way too many passages like this that aren't so wonderful, which unfortunately undermines the point he's trying to make. But the point is still true - good description, sparingly used, enchances writing.
Also, I completely agree with his comments that "the reader skips long descriptive passages", and yes, his summary of how readers choose what books to read unfortunately mirrors how I choose which book I wish to read. He has me dead to rights.
Every Daria writer who isn't writing in script form should memorize these two sentences:
To be agreeable to the overwhelming majority of readers, fiction must concentrate on dialogue and active events in the lives of his characters.
And also
Cultivate an eye for the telling detail. Porretto puts this in boldface. In a few days, I'll explain why.
Sunday, September 04, 2005
The Labor Day Weekend
Updates of multiple Daria sites over Labor Day Weekend.
The Daria Shrine has updated, so go here to figure out what's new.
Outpost Daria has updated, and go here to read the newest episode transcripts.
From The Daria News Archive :
According to an uncomfirmed report, DARIA will return to the schedules of Australian national broadcaster ABC in October.
Happy 42nd birthday to Richard Lobinske.
The Angst Guy is looking for beta readers for Part 9 of "Pause in the Air".
psychotol completed Part 3 of "Living Dead Girls 5: Chaos".
Thursday, September 01, 2005
Good News from the DVD Front
XCiteMatz wrote on The DVDaria Blog:
Well, http://www.thedigitalbits.com noted today that:
"First up, Paramount has revealed their Beavis & Butt-Head: The Mike Judge Collection - Volume 1 for release on 11/8. No word on extras yet on the 3-disc set."
So... if THAT can get onto DVD then maybe Daria isn't far behind (but if so, it better be by season and not compilations, which it sounds like this B&B set is).
XciteMatz | 09.01.05 - 1:36 am | #
SteveBlumDeckler found a French/English Daria website here .
Richard Lobinske completed "John Lane 10 - A Tale of Two Brains".
Mr. Orange completed a French translation of Richard Lobinske's "The Last Summer" called "Le dernier ete". (I know there should be accents on ete, I just don't know how to make them.)
Added to Fanfiction.net:
Chapter 19 of "Quiet Girl" by Sleepy Lotus
"The Willing Away of Pain" by Justloveinreturn4
Fan art by Ranchoth - a movie we'd all like to see....
