Sleepy Hollow TV show review/ Shailene Woodley

This is on my www.badcb.blogspot.ca: 

Apr. 11 Sleepy Hollow: I saw the pilot to this show on Sept. 24, 2013.

It was in 1781 in Hudon Valley, NY.  There is a battle scene and it’s very exciting.  Ichabod Crane (Tom Mison) is a soldier and he cuts off the head of a soldier. 

Crane wakes up in a cave.  He climbs out into the woods and it’s foggy.  He almost gets hit by a car.  There is a sign that says “Village of Sleepy Hollow.”

Cut to 2 cops.  One is an old white guy and the other is a young black woman named Abbie Mills (Nicole Beharie).

A priest watches them.  The cops get a call and they go to the stables.  The horses are spooked.

Abbie finds a shot gun by the truck.  Abbie finds a guy with his head cut off.

They keep shooting at the Headless Man, but he keeps coming.  He then rides out in a white horse.

Andy Brooks (John Cho from Harold and Kumar go to White Castle) gets a call about Crane walking around.  Abbie sees Crane.

Abbie: That’s not him (Headless Man).  He had a red overcoat and a ban on his head.

Cop: I cut off his head.

Crane does a polygraph test and tells about himself: I’m a spy for General George Washington.

There is a flashback.

Crane: I was in triage.  My wife Katrina is a nurse there.

Captain Frank Irving (Orlando Jones) gives a $1 bill to Crane: You won the war, 250 yrs ago.

They put him in the psych ward.  Irving won’t let Abbie talk to Crane.

Abbie: I need closure.

Abbie talks to Crane.

Abbie: Slavery has been abolished 150 yrs ago.

She drives Crane to the psych ward.

Crane: You didn’t tell them about the Headless Horseman.

Crane is playing with opening the car window.

Abbie: Show me the cave where you woke up from.

Crane sees Priest in present time.  There is flashback of the 18 century past.

Crane finds book: This was burned with me.

Crane: This is the passage.  Washington told me to kill a man with a bow on his hand.  He is Death.  One of the 4 horsemen.  He is here to finish what he started.

Horseman attacks Priest.

Priest: I will never tell you where it is.

Horseman chops off his head.

Abbie sees Priest, dead. 

Irving: Take Crane to a mental ward or you’re suspended.

Crane sees the grave Katrina Crane.  She was burned at the stake for witch craft.

Cut to mental hospital.

Abbie: My sister Jenny and I were walking home and saw 3 white trees.

We blacked out.

Abbie: People said we were crazy.  She’s been in and out of these places.  People say you’re crazy.  I understand.

Abbie enters Sheriff Corbin’s office and finds the key behind frame and unlocks file cabinet. 

Abbie listens to tapes of witch covens.  On the tape it says: “Abbie and Jenny Mills saw these 4 white trees” like the same case.

Crane wakes up and there’s that bird again.  He sees Katrina (Katia Winter).

Katrina: My grave hold the head of the horseman.  You blood he’s merged.  You’re connected.  We bound the cave to save you.  If the horseman gets his skull, the other 3 will come.  It will be the end.  The sun will destroy him.

Abbie picks up Crane from the mental hospital.

Abbie: Walk fast before she realizes the release form is a fake.

Andy enters his place and it’s broken into.  The Horseman is there.

Andy: I know where it is.

Crane starts digging the grave.  Abbie is there.

The head is in a jar.

Horseman shoots at them and they’re running.

Abbie shoots at the Horseman.

Andy drives by.

Andy knocks out Abbie and Abbie bites Andy’s thumb.

Abbie points gun at Andy.

2 cops shot at Horseman.

Horseman shoots at the cops and cruisers.

The sun rises and the Horseman leaves.

Irving; 2 cops corroborate the story.  You were going to go to Quantico to be in the FBI next week.

Abbie: Not anymore.

Andy in jail. 

Horseman there and kills Andy.

Abbie and Crane see the Horseman in the mirror.

Apr. 21 My opinion: The pilot was good.  Good writing and acting.  However, I didn’t connect with it, so I didn’t watch it after the pilot.

If you like supernatural stories, you may be interested in it.

The show has been renewed for a second season.

Apr. 27 Shailene Woodley: You may know her on Secret Life of the American Teenager or in the new movie Divergent.  I read that movie’s got good reviews.  On a Yahoo news video, it had the interview of her on Teen Vogue.  Woodley said she didn’t like Twilight because it was a unhealthy relationship.  The couple date, he leaves her, and then she goes and wants to kill herself.  That’s not a good message.

Here’s a comment:

 

val21mmer: I have a newsflash for you, Shailene: You aren't supposed to send ANY messages - at least, we're not waiting for them. Messages meant to impress young people are being sent by their parents and educators - and if they failed at that, your "messages" are too little too late. Let's face it: we're watching movies for entertainment, not for "messages" or life-building skills. We get these elsewhere.
So get off the high horse and just do the job you're being paid to do: pretending to a character from a fairy tale

My opinion: There are more opinions where people diss Twilight and Secret Life, and saying it’s just a movie.

When I write, I do want to send a positive message out.  I want to educate and entertain with my writing.  In my scripts there is a good message out.  I have a blog, so I do send positive messages out.

It could be really important and informative news about jobs and current events.  Or it could be something like “Watch this TV show.”

https://ca.celebrity.yahoo.com/video/why-shailene-woodley-isnt-fan-223625109.html

funding/ Andrea Beca/ ABCTales

This is on my www.badcb.blogspot.ca:

Apr. 5: I like reading the newspaper because it’s productive reading.  I learn about business news when I read the business section of the newspaper.  I also learn more about film when I read the entertainment section.

Funding: I was reading an Edmonton Journal article “Agency hands out $4.7M in film cash” on Mar. 21, 2014.  It was about Telefilm and I have heard about them before.  The article talks about how they are funding all sorts of films in genres like dramas and thrillers.

I emailed some people and now I’m looking at funding.

Alberta Film and Television Awards: I read an Edmonton Journal article “Local TV productions in a run for the Rosies” on Mar. 14, 2014.  They mentioned all these TV shows and movies shot in Alberta like Heartland, Blackstone, Tiny Plastic Men, and the movie Freezer.

It mentioned a lot of TV production companies so I looked them up too.

Aquila: I did find this production company called Aquila, but they produce non-fiction.

http://www.aquila.ca/

Andrea Beca: I was reading the Metro article “Anti-Valentine’s Day event to give people ‘Cooties’” on Feb. 11, 2014.  Metro writer Stephanie Dubois wrote the below:

What did a local woman do after one too many bad dates? She decided to share them with all of Edmonton in a mini-series.

Cooties will make its four-minute premiere at the “Dark Matters Film Festival: An Anti-Valentine’s Day Special” on Thursday, an adult-only event.

“The first episode of the mini-series is about a date gone wrong, specifically at the end of the date where a guy wants to kiss a girl. It’s pretty much a verbatim conversation of one of my dates,” said Andrea Beça, writer and director of the three-part mini series.

http://metronews.ca/news/edmonton/937213/anti-valentines-day-edmonton-event-to-give-people-cooties/

I found the 4min film.  It was funny and I cringed at it.  Some things in comedy you are laughing and cringing at the same time.

http://thetrentwilkie.com/2014/02/21/cooties/

Toy movies: I was reading the Globe and Mail on Feb. 7, 2014.  It talked about the new Lego movie.  Dave McGinn mentions movies that are based on toys like Transformers, Battleship, and Bratz.  I totally forgot about the Bratz dolls movie.  Don’t forget GI Joe: Rise of the Cobra.

Writer’s feedback: I was reading in the Metro article “What do you have to say for myself?” by Sidneyeve Matrix on Jan. 29, 2014.  She writes for TalentEgg.ca.  She mentions these:

ABCTales: This is from the website:

“ABCtales is a place for writers to share, discuss and develop their work.

ABCtales puts writers and editors together. The one can’t thrive without the other - and what we’ve found is that there’s an editor in every writer and a writer in every editor.

We believe that there’s as much to be learned from editing as from writing, so after you put up your work on the site, have a look at someone else’s, give them your feedback and discover the editor in you. You'll learn about the bits and bolts of writing by helping others - and along the way you'll meet a community of peers who will return the favour.

From your first short poem to the final chapter of that novel you’ve been working away at, our community will be there to read your work and give you advice on how to improve. And, when the time comes, we’ll do everything we can to help spread your work to a wider audience.”

There’s an “Inspiration point” page:

“Each week we will give you a short phrase or sentence to set your literary juices flowing—it's just a jog to get you writing so feel free to let it take you where you will. If you have an idea that you think would fit in well here then please email me (luke@abctales.com).

(04.04.14)

Our inspiration this week is: Skeuemorphism

A weird one, I know. But once you start reading about it the ideas start flowing. Skeuemorphism is the process in which obsolete materials get reincorporated into modern technology - like when the sound of a camera's shutter clicking is incorporated into an iphone camera (to the great annoyance of anyone who's gone on holiday and stumbled upon a group of wild iPhotographers) or when you have to delete files on your computer by dragging them into a digital 'recycling bin' and emptying it (even though there's nothing like recycling going on). An odd one - for something more traditional, try this related phrase: A trace of the past

See where it takes you - and be sure to check the 'Inspiration Point' genre so we can all see what you do with it!”

My opinion: This is actually a pretty good website. 

Critique Circle: This website is pretty good to.  It has a blog, forums, tools like submission tracker, monthly progress, etc.  There is a section full of writer quotes to inspire you to write.

http://www.critiquecircle.com/

Apr. 21 Loud Mouth Communications: I remember when I was in Professional Writing in college, and I took Professional Prose class.  There was a presentation given by Ilan Colley who created her own communications company.

I remember we were all impressed by her and her work.  I have kept her business card.  Here is her website.  It’s really good and bright.  At the presentation, she told us about this:

“What a Girl Wants

There is nothing better than raising money for a good cause – except for throwing a huge party to go along with it. For four years LMC created and executed the event strategy for What a Girl Wants, a fundraiser for the Lois Hole Hospital for Women. Not only was the event a massive success, bringing together girls and their friends for fabulous food, fashion and entertainment; it also raised more than $300,000 for the hospital!”

http://www.loudmouthcommunications.com/index.php

Apr. 27 Marshal Chamberlain: Ginny Grimsley sent me this article about Marshal Chamberlain’s new book.  The article is called “Elements of a Compelling Novel.”

•  The characters should speak to you. For example in Chamberlain’s Ancestor Series, a former Marine officer turned geology professor and a doctor in microbiology and computer science – a man and a woman - have personality traits many readers will relate to. They are unique and interesting — two stalwart individuals forced to confront and contend with romance, deceit, greed, violence and politics. These are problems every reader contends with in life.

•  The setting should capture the imagination. Chamberlain’s latest adventure-thriller features vivid imagery inside secret chambers within a Belizean mountain where ancient technology is uncovered. This almost mythical setting is tempered by a style Chamberlain calls “plausible reality,” which empowers readers to suspend disbelief and connect with the excitement and mystery of discovery. It helps to have a stylistic flavor; in his case, a little Indiana Jones.

•  The plot should keep readers turning the pages. The discovery of ancient technology that’s poised to have global implications, along with tensions between characters, are tandem plot elements that charge and maintain reader interest. A well-paced story, while hitting the right emotional beats, helps ensure readers stay engaged.

•  Unique themes set a work apart from the competition. Themes should emerge for readers in a process of logical discovery. Chamberlain’s series utilizes a cocktail of genre twisting, including action, adventure, and thriller aspects, peppered with paranormal, metaphysical and sci-fi. This dynamic allows him to transcend the typical themes of individual genres and create compelling and unique books.

•  Consider significance. What’s it all mean? Many writers are split two ways: one camp wants the reader to come away with a well-stated message while other writers are scattered as to intent in presenting meaningful take-away. Regardless, a good principle in creative writing as applied to characters, setting, plot, themes or significance, is to not simply tell readers, but to show them meaningful and exciting content that has the potential to trigger insight for living more fulfilling lives.

http://badcb.blogspot.ca/2014/04/article-elements-of-compelling-novel.html

The Blacklist TV show review

This is on my www.badcb.blogspot.ca: 

Apr. 11: I have been busy with work and looking for a job.  Now let’s take a break and write about something else.

The Blacklist: I saw the pilot way back in Sept. 24, 2013.  The show starts off with Raymond (Red) Reddington played by James Spader entering an FBI building.  An agent runs his ID and the alarms start ringing.  All agents point guns at him. 

The FBI boss Harold Cooper (Harry Lennix, he was an agent on Dollhouse) talks to Red.  Red is a broker to deals to the highest bidder. 

Red: Ronko Zimman is the bad guy.

Cooper: He died 6 yrs ago.

Red: He got off a flight recently.  I want to speak to Elizabeth Keen (Megan Boone.)

Liz wakes up with her husband Tom Keen (Ryan Eggold, a teacher from 90210 remake) and their dog.  They overslept.

Tom: The last adoption meeting is today.

A helicopter and 3 SUVS come to pick up Liz.  Liz meets Cooper and she tells him it’s her first day in the FBI and doesn’t know Red.

Cooper: Profile yourself.

Liz: I have a deep yearning to learn the criminal mind.

Cooper: Why you?

Liz: I’m new, and he thinks I can easily be manipulated.

Liz meets Red.

Red: Zumani will kidnap a politician’s daughter.  You were abandoned by a father who’s a career criminal and your mom died of weakness and shame.

Liz goes to Cooper.

Liz: How did he know that?  He established value.  That girl is going to be taken.

Liz calls Tom at the adoption agency and says she can’t come to the meeting because of this important case.

Liz goes to the ballet school to pick up 6 yr old Beth.  They are riding in a car and they stop at a bridge.  They were to turn around, but a truck hits the SUV they Liz is in.  Machine guns start shooting.  Liz shoots at one.

Bad guys give a gas mask to Liz and they pour gasoline everywhere.  Liz puts the mask on Beth.  Liz runs out as they cars blow up.  It was crazy.

Liz goes to Red.

Liz: There are no demands after 4 hrs.

Red: Tell me about your scar on your palm first.

Liz: There was a fire.

Red: You have to think like a criminal.

Red sees wall of photos.

Red: What does he desperately want?

Liz: The chemist Zinman survived, but his wife and kid died.  The daughter will die to settle the score.

They find the Zinman.

Red: We need to go there.  I need to be without handcuffs.

They go to a nice hotel to find Zinman.

They found the lab.

Liz comes home and sees “It’s a girl” sign in the living room.

Tom is tied up and beaten up.

Zinman: What else do you know about the plan?

Liz: All I know is the girl.

Zinman stabs Tom in the leg.

Zinman: Save many Americans or save only one?

He stabs Tom in the stomach and he leaves.

Liz calls 911.

Tom is in a coma.

Liz confronts Red.

Liz: Did you send him?

Red: What did Zinman say?

Liz puts pen in Red’s neck.

Liz: Now you tell me what happened.

CSI takes pictures of her home.

Liz washes the blood stain in her carpet.

Liz goes to the hospital to talk to Red.

Red is out in the parking lot.

Red has a tracking chip in him.

Red talks to Zinman.

Red: The General’s daughter is a risk.

Zinman: I’m going to put the red plague out.  60 yrs from now, they will talk about this.

Liz: I saw a stamp on his (Zinman’s) hand.

There is a flashback of an earlier scene were Tom talks about a field trip.

Liz: It’s a stamp fro the zoo.

Liz goes to the zoo and finds Beth.  Beth has a bomb strapped to her.  In the backpack, there is a timer.  Liz gets a call from Red.

Red: My friend is coming.

Agents point guns at Zinman and he pulls a tracking chip.

Agent: Son of a bitch!

Liz shows Beth her scar: This makes me brave.  Touch it.  It will make you brave.

Red’s friend Bomb Guy takes bomb off and runs with it.

They never catch the Bomb Guy, but they got Zinman.

Red tells Cooper about the Blacklist: The criminals who matter, the ones who don’t exist.

Liz is cleaning the bloody carpet, and then she cuts it.  There is a box with money and a gun.  There are passports with Tom’s face and different identities.

Liz talks to Red.

Red: You discovered something about your husband.

My opinion: The pilot was good and well-written.  I didn’t connect with it, though it had a lot of elements of TV shows I liked.  It was a good action-drama.  I was surprised with Liz coming home to find her husband is tortured and that her husband Tom is also a spy too.

I looked it up, and the show has been picked up for a second season.  Good for them.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Blacklist_%28TV_series%29

Comparisons:

A woman working for a government agency: It was like Alias.

A FBI team hunting down bad guys: It was like Criminal Minds.

editor/ Denise Chong/ Paperny Entertainment

 This is on www.badcb.blogspot.ca:

Mar. 23 Editor: How about being an editor?  I checked my blog and it turns out I did write something about it.

University of Alberta Press: I have read an article about this in the Edmonton Journal.  Here’s their website:

“The UAP publishes in the areas of biography, history, language, literature, natural history, regional interest, travel narratives and reference books. UAP contributes to the intellectual and cultural life of Alberta and Canada by publishing well-edited, research-based knowledge and creative thought that has undergone rigorous peer-review, is of real value to natural constituencies, adheres to quality publication standards and is supported by diligent marketing efforts.”

They also have a blog too:

http://holeinthebucket.wordpress.com/

Praxiom: I was looking for publishing companies in Edmonton and this came up.  It’s not a publishing company, it’s a business website.

http://www.praxiom.com/

Company’s Coming Publishing: It’s cookbooks.

http://www.companyscoming.com/

Mar. 25: What’s the point in starting a publishing company?  There’s lots of self-publishing and e-publishing these days.

Writer jobs: I have been emailing all my Professional Writing friends from college to see if they know of any writing jobs.  One of them said he found a online magazine writer job on Craigslist, but it fell through because the magazine was never launched.

I went on Craigslist and looked a bit into it today.  I then went to Job Bank and looked for writer jobs and mostly got “service writer” jobs for car companies.  I looked into it on Kijiji.  That’s how I found The Golden Vanguard in 2012 and wrote movie reviews and they posted it on their website.  (I also posted the reviews on my blog.)

Mar. 26 Merge magazine: Does anyone remember this Edmonton magazine?  It had some stuff about small businesses.  I was going through my notes and I submitted an article to them before.  After a year, it closed down and re-launched in 2011.  I went on their Twitter account and the last tweets were back in 2011.

Creative writing: The only short stories and poems I have written are from college.  I see that I have submitted to a lot of literary magazines:

The Edmonton Poetry Festival: I submitted a couple of poems. 

Inscribed.org: That doesn’t exist anymore.

Bronwen Wallace Award: I submitted a short story to them

http://www.writerstrust.com/awards/rbc-bronwen-wallace-award-for-emerging-writers.aspx

Puritan magazine:

http://puritan-magazine.com/

Notebook magazine:

http://www.notebookmagazine.ca/

Famous poets: http://www.famouspoets.com/

Poetry America: http://www.poetryamerica.com/

Metro: I see that in 2008 I submitted my “Charity” article to Metro.

24 news: I submitted the “Charity” to 24.

Seventeen: I submitted the “Charity” article to Seventeen magazine too.

Carte-Blanche: I submitted lots of poems and stories to them.

http://carte-blanche.org/

Opium magazine: I submitted a few things to them too.

Nightlife.ca: I see that I was here before.  It’s a French website.

http://www.nightlife.ca/

This magazine: I submitted a query to them to read a book review of mine.  I look at writer guidelines and they look for non-fiction, current events stories.

http://this.org/contribute/writers-guidelines/

Franklin-Christoph: I submitted a poem to them.

http://www.franklin-christoph.com/

Geist:  A literary magazine.

http://www.geist.com/

Grain magazine: This is a literary magazine located in Saskatoon. 

  

http://www.grainmagazine.ca

Prairie Fire: This is a good website.

http://www.prairiefire.ca/

Mar. 30: I cut out this article’s “Globe and Mail’s non-fiction preview” on Sept. 13, 2013.  Here’s one that really stood out for me:

Denise Chong

I’d envisaged that I’d write of lone Chinese families who ran cafés in small-town Canada as a way of exploring the emotional terrain of immigrant life. I set the stories in the 1950s when the tumult of war and politics in China and the repeal of a Canadian law barring Chinese entry brought wives, sons and daughters, and “cash on delivery” brides among the newest immigrants to this country.

As I expected, lives could be upended by the unpredictable, both joyful and tragic: a boy whose grandmother sold his baby sister for a sack of rice finds out decades later, that like him, she is now living in Canada; a driverless, rolling car crosses a sidewalk and crushes the leg of a man, and soon, his widow is left to run the café.

What surprised were memories of longing that surfaced: for the caress of a father’s hand on a daughter’s head; for any chance to wear high-heeled shoes brought from Hong Kong – regretfully ill-suited to a young bride’s new rural life.

Denise Chong is the author of Lives of the Family: Stories of Fate and Circumstance, to be published in October.

http://www.theglobeandmail.com/arts/books-and-media/the-globe-and-mails-non-fiction-preview/article14312462/?page=all

Mar. 31 Paperny Entertainment: I wrote down some TV production companies I found and was to research.  I looked this up, and they produce reality TV shows.

http://www.papernyfilms.com/productions

Rainmaker Entertainment: This is an animation company in Vancouver.

http://www.rainmaker.com/

It did lead me to Bring back Reboot, that old TV show from the 1990s.  I used to watch that show with my little brother.

http://www.bringbackreboot.com/

Degrassi “Unbelievable”/ Dark Water/ B- Girl

Mar. 12 Degrassi “Unbelievable”: There was a 1hr Degrassi episode called “Unbelievable.”  It was a really good and intense episode.  It dealt with how Zoe was drunk at a party and there was a video of her being groped.  She may have been sexually assaulted.  I used to watch Law and Order: SVU since 2002 to 2009.  I kind of stopped and only watched one or two eps because I find the show unoriginal.  It’s like “ripped from the headlines”, as in all the story ideas are from the newspaper.

Zoe wakes up from Miles’s party and she’s naked.  She doesn’t remember what happened that night.  There are lots of pictures taken from all the people at the party. 

Becky is a Christian girl and she wants to be a news reporter.  She’s on Degrassi TV news and is covering a story about the dangers of teens and drinking.  There is a video where Zoe is drunk and there is a hand groping her as she’s in her bikini.  Becky gets her TV friend Imogen to help her.  She then shows the video to her friends Drew, Miles, and Dallas to see if they remember who was with Zoe and if they recognize the voice in the video.  There is a basketball players jacket in the video.

Becky then gets an anonymous video where Miles and Winston Chu takes Zoe’s unconscious body away from the pool party.  Becky shows it the principal Mr. Simpson and the police are involved and asking questions.  Winston then shows a time stamped video that proves that he and Miles didn’t rape Zoe. 

24 min in, there was a little funny part.

Miles writes “M+W” on the chalkboard.

Miles: Miles and Winston equals.

Miles writes “NP.”

Winston: Not pervs.

They do a little victory dance. 

Becky, Imogen, and Drew are still investigating who are the rapists.  They look into two guys who are together at the party. 

The punk girl Grace enters and intros herself as The Watcher who sent the videos.  Her plan is send an anonymous text to the guys and say in it: “Your friend already told on you about what you did to Zoe.”  That’s a good plan.  They keep an eye on the pairs of two guys and there was nothing.  Then Becky sees her brother Luke argue with a guy on the basketball team about it. 

Becky doesn’t think her brother Luke would do it.  She asks to use his phone and then sees the video with him in it.  Luke notices she’s watching it and Becky is crying.  Becky runs away.  Later Luke goes to Zoe and tells her he was in the video and to forget all about it.

Luke: You’re going to ruin my life.

Zoe: My life is already ruined.

Later Zoe confronts Luke and points out that he’s a rapist in front of everybody.  She starts hitting him and Becky pulls Zoe off Luke.

Luke: You don’t have proof.

Becky: Yes, I do.  I have his phone and it shows him in the video.

Luke and the other team member is arrested.  The next day, Drew, Dallas, Tristan, Miles, and Mia are there to support her.  Zoe hugs and thanks Becky.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pUbbHrBHAQw

I was on twop.com to read comments:

Randi H. Dela Rosa: The only thing in this episode I didn't like is the fact that like didn't delete the pics. To be more realistic he would of deleted the evidence especially when he found out the police were now involved. I mean if your sister was doing a story on it and the police talked to everyone on the basketball team I'm pretty sure he would of deleted the evidence. 

SuperDwarf Hamster I was on the edge of my seat. And it's funny you guys wanted to be realistic. Delete the pics. But Luke said he was a christian boy. Who would believe anyone's accusations on him. His father, mother, sister and brother are all known for being good with god. So that was realistic. And to believe his kind hearted sister would take his side is realistic. Blood runs thicker than water is the ultimate saying. Sadly for him, his sister is about justice. And she warned him in a playful way. But she said she wanted to be a hard hitting journalist and wouldnt stop until she aired her findings.

He got what he deserved. It doesnt have to go far. With the photos/videos, confessions and the paperwork from Zoe's doctor, he and his friend could have it hard.

MegaJ:-Speaking of Zoe, Ana did a great job for a "new" actress with the material. I think she wasn't raped per se but sexually assaulted which is just as traumatic. A lot of people would probably want this storyline to be dragged out and feel like it was wrapped up too nicely, but goddammit after Dean got away with it and we never saw Darcy's rapist, it's so nice to see a girl win one. I think that sends a good message about bravery and that a lot of times, the rapist doesn't get away with it.

Apr. 8 Screenwriting Goldmine: I was going through my Screenwriting Goldmine newsletter emails written by Phil Gladwin.  Here’ some inspiring stories of writers succeeding on Sept. 28, 2012:

Finally, if you really are still hesitating about whether this workshop thing is really for you, here's an extract Phil Shelley received recently from one of his clients:

'...just to keep you up to date with the M-K picture that I sent you an early draft of... thanks to your notes I was able to do a root and branch reworking of my proposals and sent them off to Hollywood. The reaction was ecstatic (Yes, I know it's Hollywood and all that.) I've been asked to produce a full script by the end of the summer. Contracts are being prepared. It's now moving in the right direction.'  (Screenwriter John Morrison, June 30th 2011)

And here's what just a couple of happy customers had to say about 

my Screenwriting Goldmine Book:

"Dear Phil--  I want you to know that I, a novelist, used your book on screenwriting to help me write a romantic comedy screenplay based on one of my published novels. It turned out so well that a successful movie producer (his comment upon reading it was,

"Wonderful! Delightful!") is now trying to raise the money for anindependent production. My next step is getting a Hollywood agent to negotiate a contract with the producer. So, thanks for your help!" Trina Mascott - Palm Desert, California (Personal communication, June 2011)

"I've written two screenplays since I read this book, and I've had two producer requests for one of them, one producer request for the other, and a producer request based on a seven-word logline for a scenario that's not yet even a script! Stuff like this has never

happened to me before. Plus one of the above screenplays was a finalist in this year's New York-based Bridge International Screenplay Competition. Let me say that again: Stuff like this has never happened to me before. Get it, read it, and do it." Ian Hamilton - Australia (courtesy of Amazon.com)

Dark Water: I read about this in the Metro:

“Production of a movie called Deep Water has halted due to the flight in Malaysia that disappeared in the Indian Ocean.

According to the Associated Press, Managing Director Gary Hamilton said, "We're delaying it out of respect for what's going on."

The film has been put on hold due to the tragic accident regarding the Malaysia Airlines jet that disappeared from March 8 en route to Beijing from Kuala Lumpur. Malaysian officials have finally released information that they believe the jet crashed and that 239 people have lost their lives.”

http://thecelebritycafe.com/feature/2014/03/arclight-films-has-put-movie-deep-water-hold

My opinion: Oh yeah, that’s happened to me before.  I had written a story where a guy can just get on a plane quickly.  That’s not possible after 9/11. 

Apr. 13 B-Girl: I came home from work and checked what’s on TV.  I found this dance movie called B-Girl (2009.)  It’s written and directed by Emily Dell.  I saw the last 20 min. of it.  It stood out to me because it’s about dancing, the lead is a girl Angel (Jules Urich), and it’s written and directed by a woman.

I went on imdb.com: “A story about a female breakdancer overcoming a brutal attack to claim her place in the world of underground hip-hop.”

I looked into it some more and Dell had written a short film with the same title in 2004.  Then in 2009 she got it produced to a feature length movie.  That’s great.

I notice Wesley Jonathan was in it.  You may remember him as the black guy on the late 90s teen sitcoms City Guys and Amanda Byne’s sitcom What I Like About You.

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0964179/

Richard Larson/ fame/ Athabasca University

This is on my www.badcb.blogspot.ca

Mar. 7: I need to focus on my goals more.  By going through and reading these articles I cut out, I can focus.

Richard Larson: On Jun. 4, 2011, I cut out this Edmonton Journal article by Codi Wilson:

Canadian teen up for book award

Grande Prairie writer surprised his sci-fi novel makes final three from 5,000 submissions

By the age of six, Richard Larson was an award-winning author.

His short story on Mexican freetailed bats used as radar-guided missiles in the Second World War garnered the Grande Prairie native a children's short story award at the public library.
"It wasn't that good but it was good for a six-year-old," he says with a laugh.

Today, Larson, 19, is a semifinalist for Amazon's Breakthrough Novel Award.

The winner receives a $15,000 cash advance and a publishing contract with Penguin Group (U.S.). He is the only Canadian remaining in the competition.
His submission, a 51,000-word science fiction novel called Devolution, is a futuristic thriller about a computer virus capable of infecting the human brain.

The competition started with 5,000 entries. Larson was surprised to learn he is one of the three finalists in the young adult fiction category.
"It's really more like winning the lottery. It was a lucky break."
Larson's inspiration for the novel stemmed from a longtime love of science fiction. "That's what I read mostly when I was young. I was still imaginative enough that I didn't want to read about the real world."

Larson spent his early childhood in Niger, West Africa, where he was home-schooled. His parents often took him to the library.
To support her son's writing endeavours, his mother found Canadian author Kenneth Oppel's home phone number and called him.

Oppel, author of the Silverwing series, was receptive to giving the aspiring writer some advice. The conversation helped give Larson the confidence to pursue writing professionally.
"That was a neat moment for me. I realized authors are people and I'm a person and I could be an author."

Though he is pleased to have made it to the finals, he doesn't expect his novel to win.
"Sci-fi traditionally is not really a crowd-pleaser. It's not typical young adult fiction."
Larson hopes the experience will give him some exposure. He will be returning to the University of Alberta this fall, studying creative writing.

Larson completed his most recent book a month ago and is starting to move away from sci-fi.
"I don't want to lock myself into a genre. I'm going to start writing more general fiction."

For more information, go to amazon.com/abna.

Kindle readers can link to an excerpt from Devolution and can vote for their top choice.
The winners will be announced June 13.

My opinion: I went on the internet and it turns out Jill Baguchinsky won with her book Spookygirl.  That’s great that he got this far into the competition.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Amazon_Breakthrough_Novel_Award#2011_competition

http://www2.canada.com/edmontonjournal/news/archives/story.html?id=1ab7e039-c561-4488-ae3d-290f9b666689

Fame: I was thinking about how famous do I want to be?  What famous writers are out there?

Jonathan Goldstein: He’s a journalist for the National Post; that’s a national newspaper.

Omar Mouallem: He is a local celebrity.  I went to Professional Writing with him in college.  He was the Edmonton Public Library writer in residence.  He wrote for the Edmonton magazine Avenue and Metro newspaper.

Michael Hingston: He is a journalist for the Edmonton Journal.

Lynn Coady: She won the Scotiabank Giller prize for her book Hellgoing.

They are famous writers, but I don’t know if they get approached in the middle of the street.

Mar. 8 Fall 2012: Does anyone remember the Fall 2012 TV shows?  I only watched the Elementary pilot and it was average.  I didn’t connect with it.  I only kept watching Arrow after the pilot.

In Fall 2013, there were a lot of promos for these pilots and they all looked so interesting.  However, I watched a lot of them and I didn’t connect with them.  I only kept watching Dracula after the pilot.

http://www.tvguide.com/special/fall-preview/newshows.aspx

Mar. 10 Taming of Chance: I got this email for a contest to submit a short story, short film, or creative work.  You can win money prizes like $500 or $2000.  I checked it out and you have to be 25 and under.

http://tamingofchance.vretta.com/

Mar. 22 TV cancellations: I read that the TV show Hostages got cancelled.  CBC cancelled Artic Air and Cracked.

Mar. 25 Canadian Literature: I was looking for some publishing companies to work for.  I found this Canadian magazine.  I looked at their submissions and they print non-fiction and book reviews.

Publishing companies: There is a list of publishers all across Canada.

http://canlit.ca/publishers

Athabasca University:

AU Press operates on the model of a knowledge-based economy, to which we contribute by providing peer-reviewed publications unfettered by the desire to commodify thought or to restrict access to ideas.

AU Press is the centre of scholarly publishing expertise for Athabasca University, Canada’s Open University. It is the first scholarly press to be established by a Canadian university in the twenty-first century. We are dedicated to the dissemination of knowledge and research through open access digital journals and monographs, as well as through new electronic media.

AU Press will offer its imprint only to scholarship of the highest quality, as determined through peer review. In keeping with Athabasca University’s mission of overcoming barriers to education, we intend to work with emerging writers and researchers to promote success in scholarly publishing.

http://www.aupress.ca

Colm Feore/ Sci-fi nation/ Bruce MacDonald

This is on my www.badcb.blogspot.ca:

Mar. 15: I have mentioned before that I need to get inspired to go into TV production.  Well here’s something: 

Colm Feore: He’s a Canadian actor and was in Bon Cop, Bad Cop and The Listener.  I was reading about him the Edmonton Journal “Feore flexes villain skills” by Eric Volmers on Feb. 10, 2014.  Here’s an excerpt:

“It's a chilly day in Calgary and the actor is sitting in a warehouse in the southeast during a break on the Alberta-shot sci-fi thriller Painkillers.”

Shot over 15 days in Calgary and Drumheller, which subs in for Afghanistan, Painkillers also stars Battlestar Galactica's Tahmoh Penikett, Lesley-Ann Brandt from Spartacus and Bitch Slap's Julia Voth as the desperate soldiers. Calgary native Erica Durance of Saving Hope plays Penikett's wife.

"It's actually terrifying that he can't remember what has transpired," says Penikett, who plays damaged hero Maj. Tom Cafferty. "He has lost a big section of his memory, a whole time period. He's trying to figure it out bit by bit. And for a guy who is used to be in control and on top of it and in charge of his faculties, to have his memory gone like that makes him feel very vulnerable." Painkillers mixes psychology, conspiracies and science fiction, grounding it all in more topical concerns about the traumatic effects of war.

My opinion: This sounds like a pretty interesting story.

http://www2.canada.com/edmontonjournal/news/story.html?id=4765a215-fa8f-4d1c-8f85-f1e249300d06

Bitten: I saw promos for this show starring Canadian actress Laura Vandervoort who was on Instant Star and Smallville.  She plays a female werewolf.  She was in the Metro on Jan. 9, 2014:

“It’s an adult show, and it’s about the relationships and not just the fact that we’re werewolves.  It’s the family dynamic.”

She has a 2^nd degree black belt in Shotokan karate and says she did: “93% of my own stunts except falling down the stairs.  It’s such a vast range for a female to get play on television that I loved going to work every day and coming home and being exhausted but feeling like, ‘Wow, I did that and I didn’t think I was capable.’”

My opinion: When I saw the promo for the show, I was like: “Another supernatural show?”  I already watch Vampire Diaries.  I watched the first 2 seasons of Being Human, and then I missed season 3 because my schedule.  I did watch a couple of episodes of season 4 that’s on right now.

Sci-fi nation: I cut out this article “Sci-fi nation” in the Globe and Mail on Apr. 13, 2013.  It mentions all these Canadian TV sci-fi shows shot in Canada.  It’s by Marsha Lederman:

Continuum, which begins its second season this month, follows Kiera (Rachel Nichols), a police officer in 2077 Vancouver who in the pilot is zapped back to 2012, along with a group of terrorists responsible for a deadly bombing. While trying to figure out how to return to her 2077 life – in particular her son and husband – Kiera also manages to join the Vancouver police department, and hunt for the escaped cons. With echoes of contemporary issues – Occupy, 9/11 – the show resonates beyond the sci-fi sphere.

Lost Girl has also been picked up by Syfy. Shot in Toronto, the show was the most successful premiere in Showcase history when it debuted in 2010. The Season 3 finale airs Sunday in Canada; eight days later on Syfy. Season 4 goes into production in June, a few weeks after Silk, who is pregnant, has her baby.

“In the beginning, it was really hard to define what our show was. I can remember doing press, and I was, like, it’s an action-comedy-drama; I just had no idea what to call it,” says Silk. “A lot of people have compared us to Buffy, which I think is a really flattering comparison. Sometimes I say it’s like Buffy for grownups, because of the sexual content.”

Orphan Black started simmering in the brains of Manson and co-creator John Fawcett a decade ago, beginning with an opening sequence: A woman gets off a train, looks across the platform, and witnesses another woman, who looks remarkably like her, commit suicide. As Sarah (Tatiana Maslany) assumes the identity of her doppelganger, she begins to uncover the mystery of the dead woman’s identity, as well as her own (and later, others’).

The series premiered March 30, attracting the biggest audience for an original series debut in Space’s 15-year history – and some excellent reviews. “Thoroughly impressive, wildly entertaining,” gushed The Hollywood Reporter. “One of the most intriguingly entertaining new series of the year.”

Much has also been made of its ambiguous setting. For example, what appear to be suburban trains in the opening sequence are departing for New York, but the dead woman’s wallet is filled with Canadian currency. “It’s meant to be Generica,” says Manson. “It’s part of the price you pay for this kind of co-production.”

My opinion: I only saw a little bit of the shows Contiuum, Lost Girl, and Orphan Black.  They seem pretty good.  These kind of shows I have to watch from the beginning so I can follow it.  It’s not like crime procedurals where you can watch a random episode here and there and you still know what’s going on.

http://www.theglobeandmail.com/arts/television/how-canada-is-becoming-the-sci-fi-nation/article11157191/?page=all

Motive: “Show's writers search for a Motive” by Glen Schaefer.  This is another Canadian TV show that has found success in Canada and the US.  It’s published Dec. 14, 2013.  Here’s an excerpt:

They're looking for poisons that leave no trace. They want to know what a body looks like after it's been trampled to death by a horse.

"Based on our Google searches alone, we're probably up there on the most wanted list," said writer James Thorpe who, with colleague Dennis Heaton, shares the title of executive producer on the CTV mystery series Motive.

"What comes first (when writing) is usually some kind of juicy motive," said Thorpe, who helped launch the show after a 15-year writing career that began with the adventure series Highlander.

My opinion: I haven’t watched that show.  It looks good and all, but I’m not really interested in watching it.

http://www2.canada.com/edmontonjournal/news/story.html?id=726f17f4-469f-4e83-a8de-b72fb8512fa5

Mar. 20 Bruce MacDonald: I cut out this Globe and Mail article “Putting the bite on Twilight” by Gayle MacDonald.  It was published in Oct 9, 2010.  Bruce MacDonald created the TV movie My Babysitter’s a Vampire.

"This movie is a vehicle to make fun of pop culture like the way Mad Magazine would do it in the fifties and sixties," says McDonald. "Vampires seem to be eternally popular, primarily because they're sexy.

"The Twilight series supercharged the whole thing. But her [ Twilight creator Stephenie Meyers's]take on vampires is structured around abstinence, which I find very strange. Come on, it's not 1972 any more, is it? Vampires are exotic, other-worldly creature that personify the fun of the night-time world. A concept that is quite appealing to anybody - but especially kids still living in their parents' homes.

"This script mocks, in a gentle way, the hypocrisies of the conservative world we've come to live in," says McDonald, who has been pulling all-nighters, along with the rest of his cast and crew, to accommodate filming the outdoor sequences in the dark.

"I've done kids' shows before, so it's not like I'm new to the genre," says McDonald, who has directed several episodes of Degrassi: The Next Generation, as well as Ready or Not. "But those are mostly dialogue- or issue-based. This has physical effects, visual effects and tons of action sequences. It's a fully-loaded kids show."

"A lot of these projects I've been working on 10 years. But, of course, they all just came together at once. But you gotta love [this business]- or it's just too difficult sometimes. If you don't love it, it doesn't matter how much money they pay you, it's not worth it."

http://www.theglobeandmail.com/arts/television/bruce-mcdonald-puts-a-bite-on-twilight/article1214619/