This is what fracking looks like:

"It destroyed our lives. It destroyed our communities."

If you've ever wondered what happens when our politicians say yes to dirty energy, here's your answer:

Posted by 38 Degrees on Friday, June 19, 2015

The problem with being ill...

Back at the end of January I caught flu from a very kind person who was doing their best to spread viruses and bacteria to all and sundry.

After 5 days of feeling dead, I finally managed to shake off the temperature, and my brain began working again ... kinda.

But after 3 more weeks of a near constant headache, sinus discomfort, and a very mild temperature - more on than off, ... I've finally had to admit that I am, in actual fact, still not recovered.

BLEURGH!

I've made an appointment to see the doc next week. I don't want to, I can already imagine what he'll say, I feel as though I am totally wasting my time even considering going. But this constant f*cking headache is really grinding me down.

And the problem with feeling like crap is that it tends to lead me to commit rant.
Very unhealthy.

Just because I feel crappy, I shouldn't be taking it out on innocent bystanders [Specially not when they are people I like, and respect, and want to work with.]

I just wish I could get my head properly clear and lose this darned headache!

And yes, this is another rant. *rolls eyes*

The catarrh pastilles have run out. And alcohol is failing to solve the problem (there's a surprise)
I'm off to buy more. Of the anti catarrh pastille thingies.
*reads blurb on old packet* "If symptoms do not go away, talk to your doctor." - - I AM! NEXT WEEK!

D'ARGH!


EDIT: 2nd March 2011
The doctor lived down to my expectations.

D'AAARRGHHH!

BUM! If I do that, all the characters are going to have to wear filter masks all the time, and it'll look pants on film.

Drat, and double drat.

Where's that bl**dy drawing board got to...?


UPDATE:
Or maybe some kind of powered (unnoticable) nose plug/filter....? Hang on a min, I need to go away and think about this. *gnashes teeth*

Blinking stories! GRRRRRRR!!

UK Film Council to be axed

UK Film Council is falling under the axe? This is a huge mistake, surely? They are killing off one branch of an industry that stands a chance of getting us through the financial mess we are in by creating investment and, theoretically, profit.

If Tim Bevan thinks it's a bad idea, that's pretty much good enough for me. I suggest that Working Title have their finger on the pulse, so if he ain't happy....

Well anyway, what ever you reckon, in my book it's a bad move.

When they could save 2 billion (yeah, count those zeros) in the NHS per year, every year, by scrapping the Anti-cholesterol campaign - run by a bunch of nutters with no evidence but a theory they think sounds good? [Lower your cholesterol and the evidence suggests that you are wiping out one of your body's main defense systems and raising your chances of death, from all causes!] Well IMO, the powers that be are nuts for backing such madness.

Want to know more? Read: the Great Cholesterol Con, the truth about what really causes heart disease and how to avoid it by Dr. Malcolm Kendrick, ISBN: 978-1-84454-610-7.

Or you could read the books on the subject by Dr. Uffe Ravnskov.

Or if you prefer a layman's take, you could read the works of Barry Groves - although you may find his Trick And Treat, Why Healthy Eating Is Making Us Ill a little too full of scientific references and studies, and disturbing information to be the easiest read in the world, Natural Heath and Weight Loss is a much easier ride.

Personally if you like a dark, mildly sick sense of humour with your science, Dr Kendrick's book is very accessible to the layman, and has a tonne of medical facts and references. This dude knows his stuff. Check it out.

Seriously!

We're are all being taken for a huge ride by big industry, who want to sell more statins - You think you suffer from paranoid conspiracy theories, check out the way these guys operate - It ain't paranoia, and it ain't a theory. They are the dudes that fund the flawed studies by organisations like WHO (not the band), that the government take their expert advice from. !? W.T.F.!!!

Sorry. Platform. GRRRRRRRRRR!!! Anyhow, read the books. Check out http://thincs.org/

I'm off to grind my teeth.

GRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRR!!!


...............
EDIT: 27 Feb 2011
The need to rant some more has raised it's ugly head again, so, just to add to the who cholesterol debate - for passers by who may want to know:

The mortality tables show that low cholesterol is linked to a higher death rate from all causes.
You might want to think about that before tucking into your cholesterol lowering death-spread?

The Mountain Effect

You are flying along in a clear blue sky, humming a little song to yourself, when someone pulls along side in their jet-fighter and says they really like the way you fly. 'And incidentally, don't you like my jet-fighter?'
It's a cool looking jet-fighter. But when you take a good look close to, you realise it has some gaffa tape in a few places. Infact, it's quite a ropy old jet-fighter, but it has potential. There is quite a bit of rust that could do with a good scrape and respray/rebuild.
But small parts of the jet-fighter are quite breath-taking, angles, curves, the sheen and sleek of it. You can see the potential. You like.
If it's rebuilt it could be stunning. - - You say this.
'You wanna help rebuild it?'
Sounds like a plan.
But as you fly along in tandem, making a list of changes that really need to be made, it's becoming quite cloudy, until you can't see where you're flying anymore. And all the while the guy is distracting you with compliments.
"Look, I can't see because of all these clouds, and if I'm gonna work on it we really need to land, so you can sign the rebuild paperwork and I can get on with fixing it." He agrees, but keeps on flying through the clouds.
"Are you gonna land?"
He thinks about this for a good long while. 'Nope. I've decided the jet-fighter is fine the way it is afterall. Bye!' He peels away in a vertical climb.
The clouds part and you are nose to cliff face with a mountain.
SPLAT!
Belatedly you realise that that wasn't cloud, it was all the smoke he was blowing at you.
Darn.


Well, that was educational. Sometimes these things need hammering home.

So, the American re-write is well and truely dead. I suspected this was the case back near the start, but it was such pretty smoke that I allowed myself to get carried away and ignore the many warning signs.
FOOL THAT I AM!

Take heed kinder. If someone says they love you but won't commit, it means they don't love you at all, they just want the chance to use and abuse you.
*narrows eyes*

Goodbye Producer No#2. That was ... interesting.

"I ATE'NT DEAD"*

Well, that was a new experience. And one I hope never to repeat.
My balance is still off slightly, so walking in a straight line doesn't always happen according to plan, and crossing the road is at best a dangerous gamble ... but then, isn't it always?
Much better than I was. I can concentrate for over half an hour now without my brain melting. So writing is back on the agenda. Way hey! :)

When you can't read, or watch TV, or surf the net, and you're just about well enough to not be asleep 24-7, it gets incredibly frustrating. ~ You want to write, but all you can do is the imagination part of it, because pen to paper is as overwhelming as trying to read. - - I don't know how to describe it...?

Overwhelming, is the best description there is for the sensation of being utterly unable to concentrate or focus your attention; it's all too much.
But if you haven't experienced it, that means nothing to you. It's horrid though. Crippling.

After over a week of being asleep, and then 3 days of dreaming about chocolate cake, and then another two days fantasizing about the perfect lamb chop, followed by a day of fantasizing about liver and kidneys cooked to perfection ... and all the while the thought of actually eating makes you very ill ... Eventually your brain gets pissed off and starts tackling the important problems like - how the heck do I fix X in story Y. - - Now all I have to do is remember all the fixes I came up with and get them written up. :)

So now that it's mid bl**dy April, what happened while I was out of it?

...

Well, both my books are now available in print, or in PDF if you prefer. The first one came out at the beginning of February, and then lurgy interrupted me signing off the second one until just before the Labyrinthitis took me out for the count.
I will blog about the process next time - - once my brain is a bit more together. With pictures, and links, and such. HOORAH!

In the mean time, please dont cough near me. LOL.

Laters!



*from Lords and Ladies, by Terry Pratchett

Not norovirus, but labyrinthitis

Labyrinthitis in my case takes the form of a viral infection of the inner ear, which - like most viral infections - has no cure.

It lasts around two weeks ... or maybe much longer.

And means that any movement of the head causes acute world-spin, nausea, vomiting ... and for me, at one point a black out - - When you wake up on your back dry-heaving, you realize that two near death experiences in the last 12 months is a little bit more interesting than is comfortable.

Luckily they do these nifty little pills that taste vile, which you stick under your upper lip, and they stop the vommiting. They do not however stop the nausea and dizziness.

Norovirus would seem to be, by comparison, a walk in the park.

Thanks Fairy God-Cat. ... Laugh it up you b*stard furball!

Impatience.

As a writer, you will be feted and courted and asked to achieve the impossible ... the person asking this will promise various things.

The question is, if they then delay implementing those promises
(for example providing a contract for work they want you to do by such and such a date, on a deferred payment basis - - and then don't even send you the draft version of that contract for discussion / haggling / wrangling over until well after the date they really, really, really needed the script by - How long are you supposed to wait? Are you supposed to wait? At what stage are you allowed to disembowel them?)
... do you:

A) Throw a fit, then write the screenplay anyway, and then refuse to hand over the finished document until the contract is finalized, signed, and delivered?

B) Throw a fit and refuse to put pen to paper until they come forth with the contract - even though this will mean definitely missing the deadline?

C) Roll over and wipe yourself off, hand them the script without the contract in place, and then go and cry behind the rock you normally hide under?

D) None of the above.

E) GRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRR!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!



*sigh*
I'll just go put pen to paper then.

Any grinding of teeth, or swearing, you hear over the next few weeks will be me. After that, if you hear a large explosion (as of a bomb, or a fire, or high velocity ammunition being fired) - It wasn't me! ... You are such a lovely, supportive person. Will you be my alibi? Pretty please?
*grinding of teeth* *muttering punctuated by prolific swearing*

Where's the alcohol?


UPDATE: 26 November 2009, I've just emailed the producer the soft version of the riot act. We'll see what happens. He may have a completely legitimate excuse?
... Yeah.

UPDATE: 29 November 2009. Hmm. Apparently the project is not a priority, he'll get back to me about contracts next year.
Well, that's that one shelved for now, then.
(If you're keeping score, the answer was option B.)
It's good to get these things clarified. I shall concentrate on one of my other projects instead.
*gentle simmer*
... and moving on.

Sad bast*rd.

I'm talking about me.

How many years has it been since I first saw the Welsh Whore and fell head-over-heels at first sight? Longer than I like to admit, 1994 ... when was that? Been a while.

And I haven't clapped eyes on him since 1998.

And now, I hear he's out and about again - - and my obession has switched itself from dull glow to fire on the hearth. Luckily it's not back up to full roar, but I guess that's only a matter of seeing his ugly mug again.

*SIGH*

Bollocks. I'm supposed to be writing and recouperating, not pining for someone I can never have. GRRR!!!

'Scuse my language, but FUCK!



What else has happened this month?

Oh yes, Producer No#1 is making encouraging noises about The Grim (A.K.A. The Legend of the Beast) again. :)

So, in the last few weeks:
* 2 books (full swing),
* the American Collaboration Rewrite (full swing),
* The Grim (peering at me from the darkest jungle),
* and the Welsh Whore is hogging all my thoughts.

I have to concentrate on writing.
Someone send me an "anti-love potion"? Please?

[UPDATE 21st November 2009: Thank you for the anti-love potion. :) Greatly appreciated!] *evil laughter*

Fractions

What is the difference between 3/4 and 4/3?

If you're me, about one month. -- Yeah I know. Did you really want it to make sense?

If you are everybody else (i.e. sane, or mathematically inclined, or just able to cope with the concept of time) the quantity: one and a third, ... or 4/12ths depending on whether you can translate Eleanorese.

The NEED to write.

I have just looked at the date, and realised it's nearly May!

MAY!

CRAP!!!

Quarter of the year gone already, and I have done virtually nothing ... well okay the usual procrastination of watching film and TV that us writers like to call "research" - okay, it kinda counts, general absorbtion of story and story telling techniques - but not the focused research of an active project (at least not until this week). I've done some writing, some plotting, vaugue writing type stuff, dancing with producers, ... but nothing concrete, focused, driven ... and the NEED TO WRITE is beginning to tickle the back of my brain.
-- Bout time too.

I've been allowing life to get in the way so far this year; from end of January onwards, really.

And that's NOT. GOOD.

Have to apply a bit of focus and will power ... and make myself get on with it if I hope to stand a chance of achieving any of this year's plans.

I'm off to apply bum to seat.

Unimportant things - doesn't amount to a hill of beans

Rules
1) Put the link of the person who tagged you on your blog.
2) Write the rules.
3) Mention 6 things or habits of no real importance about you.

Well, I haven't officially been tagged, but since Piers tried to nick my brain one time ...

Piers and I have 1 unimportant thing in common, and he describes it very well, so I shall lift directly from his blog:
I'm cross-dominant.

Surprisingly, this isn't a kinky sex thing, but means that while my dominant hand is my right (for throwing, catching, and so on), my dominant eye is my left.

This is not generally a problem in everyday life. However it's a known problem in target shooting.

Should I ever wish to take up shooting - or alternatively, should I be forced to fight for survival in a terrifying post-apocalyptic world - I should try and shoulder the weapon on my left, rather than my right, in order to aim correctly.

We may have many more unimportant things in common, but I don't know what they are, so you'll have to be satisfied with that. :)

2nd unimportant thing - Foot-in-mouth syndrome, otherwise known as not engaging brain before saying something. I suffer from this a lot. It has plagued my life, despite my best efforts to avoid it - any time I get excited or passionate about something I forget to monitor what I say. And I really, really should. At all times.

3rd unimportant thing - Forgetfulness, for example I rarely know which day of the week it is, or what the date is. Always hazardous as we reach the end of March....

4th unimportant thing - Gullibility, mainly because my gut instinct is that everyone is nice, and always tells the truth (unless they wear a great big warning sign) which in combination with points 2 and 3 frequently results in me being a Fool, in this particular instance an April one. Cue tiny violins.

5th unimportant thing - One of my ancestral relatives wrote a book, Elinore M Havers. I only know about her because my mother pointed out her book, called Wigwam Island, as we share the same name ... kinda. I have no idea whether she was any good as a novelist, because I didn't read it. And it's only on researching her (just now) that I find she wrote more than one book. ... Drat! Ancestral competition. I must try harder!

6th unimportant thing - Nigel Havers is also a very, very, very distant relation, but he wouldn't know me from Sheila. *sigh*
Great I've resorted to name dropping. Why? I guess desire for wish fulfillment: he's potentially a contact, assuming we ever meet ... which we most likely never will - - unless I stalk him, which is not cool. So that ain't happening - - Argh, I'll just shut up now then, shall I?

Anyhow, there's my list of 6 things or habits of no real importance about me.

Feel free to consider yourselves tagged if you haven't already done this one. :)

vaguely organised chaos

Well, I'm de-stressing a bit ... possibly I'm just getting used to living in chaos, but mostly because it turns out I have a knack for blowing up computers. ;)

*rolls eyes*

I think it's actually because the hormones are kicking in - I'm one of three women in an office of over 100 men. Lucy would love it! And troubleshooting computers is turning out to be a bit more fun than I thought as well. So double bonus! :)
- - Nothing like a bit of problem solving to lighten the day.

And lets face it, that's what writers are essentially, problem solvers. So I get to use that part of my brain that gets me high when I write, kind-a, in a non-writing way.

Also definitely good for research. Encountering all sorts of techy things that will come in useful when constructing worlds / stories / characters that make use of this stuff.

Actual writing is a bit thin on the ground at the moment though, because I'm spending much of my spare time on computer homework ... I haven't done homework in over a decade! LOL

I'm ignoring much of the other chaos that's happening. Prioritise needs, that's the ticket. Deal with what needs dealing with first and do the rest later. The car situation is inching its way up to the top of the list pretty quickly though.

Writing is nagging me in the background as well, as soon as this training is over I'm going to dive back into that with a vengeance.

TEMPORARILY FALLEN OFF PLANET

...

Back soonish.

... oh yeah,

and A HAPPY CRIMBO / NEW YEAR TO ALL!

Running on empty

Working every hour there is has managed to pay the bills so far. But, it is physically draining. - - And then about 3 weeks ago I finally exhausted the tank and I've been running on empty ever since. ... Which was kind of okay; with Christmas coming up I was due two weeks off from one of my jobs, so that would have been a nice restful break. I could have stoked the furnaces and then got right back to it. :)

However that job has just informed me that my services are no longer required. The credit crunch just bit me! Ouch! And my first reaction was an overwhelming sense of relief.

I have officially been told that I can relax.

The problem is, I think I relaxed too much and something important went SPANG!

The last time I felt like this was the day after I finished my English 'O' Level and my ability to spell the word and evaporated. I knew it had three letters and that there was an 'n' in it, but I sat there looking at the sentence I was writing for 10 minutes and I could not figure out how to write it. In the end I left a three letter space and kept writing. A paragraph later the word the threatened to do the same thing, so in my best inner Monty Python general's voice I said "Stop it! That's silly!" and the sprang back into sharp focus, and and jumped back in at the same time. I went back and filled it in.

Never had that problem again until just now. But instead of it being just the word and, I seem to be having a global creativity failure. I can't tell if anything I'm writing is good anymore. I read it, and it's just ... words. Maybe it's a variation on writer's block?

I'm fairly sure that I relaxed the wrong muscle in my skull and my brain has fallen out.

If found please mail it back to me?

Eleanor Piper
High Security Ward
The Assylum
The Wilds of Devon
PO5 7AL

Thanks!

Holding your breath ...

... is universally a bad idea.

Aside from the whole turning blue, keeling over, and waking up with a bunch of strangers staring at you worriedly thing. - - That's normal. Bunch of strangers staring at me worriedly happens every day*. Virtually everyone I meet or pass on the street reacts like that. - - Aside from that, there's the whole time wasting aspect to it (which could be classed as procrastination I suppose, or maybe a variation on writer's block?) where you are waiting instead of doing.

In this case I have not been wholly holding my breath as I wait for the verdict on The Grim; I've been mulling other projects, but not actively working on them the way I should have been. Bad Eleanor!

Producer No#1 was kind enough to let me know there has been no decision as yet, because they are having a BIG RUCK over the script. He loves it as is. The folks behind the scenes want to transfer the setting from the UK to the USA. - - Hmm. If you've read the story you'll realise that I think Producer No#1 is a man of rare insight and spectacular story know-how who should be listened to at all times.
... However, if it really comes down to it, I can always write them a brand new script about a monster eating people in the USA it just won't be this monster. Maybe it's cousin?

So, it looks like interesting times (the Chinese type) are headed my way. Again. Oh joy.

I'd better pull my finger out and get back to working on the other story with my American co-writers ... before they lynch me for falling off the face of the planet. :)

*Well, every day that I venture out of my cave into the view of other people.

Errors In Judgement

The production company who love my screenplay ... indications are that after the rewrite, not so much.

So what changed? I followed their notes, it's a much stronger story and Producer No#1 is still very keen, but it seems to have cooled down a bit behind the scenes. So why is that? Afterall, it is essentially the same script with some tweaks.
- - I think I have an inkling.
Although before you read this as discovered wisdom, bare in mind I have almost no exposure to the process and I could be talking total bollocks, as is my usual want. D'oh!

But, I think I can point to a change I made in the third act - climax, penultimate battle ... previously I had not intercut the scenes, or split them with slugs. It read really smoothly, but wasn't particularly in proper format. So I added the slugs, thinking they've already said they like it. This change will bring it that one tiny millimeter closer to shooting script layout, so that change helps me visualise all the extra things I need to do to get this set of scenes to that next step.

However, this is still supposed to be a reading script, and by adding those slugs, instead of an intercut (which in hindsight is the option I should have taken) I just made it LESS READER FRIENDLY. Removing some of the flow adds distance between the words on paper and the consumer of those words.

At least, I think that's what is happening here. Still waiting for a verdict, so this is a huge guess on my part. But in the next pass I'm going to change it to intercut and see if it flies any better.

Then again, maybe it's a budget thing, or some other screenplay has turned up and knocked their socks off? *sigh*

Moral of the story? - - Even when you think it's in the bag, never relax!
Oh, and the perennial - - assumption makes an ass of you and me.

Guess I'll have to wait to see how the damage translates. ... Then again, it's such a small nit-pick, maybe it's a budget thing?

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------
UPDATE: 17th November 2008.
D'oh! Okay, that's not it at all! Phew! Although something to bear in mind for next time I start getting all ahead of myself. Keep a reading script a reading script. Worry about the next step after the contracts are signed.

NOT. IMPRESSED.

Apparently a verbal agreement is not worth the paper it is printed on.

Yeah, okay, we all know this. I know this.

But being the publishing business, I assumed a verbal agreement to publish a book was just that, an agreement to publish a book. - - The book. - - The book that I've just spent an age working on.

I realise in the film industry, as a writer, you get smoke blown up your arse all the time and things have to not only be signed, and sealed, but also have to be delivered in order to be considered as a pot you can safely count your chickens in. But I somehow thought that being paper and bindings and all stable things you can touch, the book industry was different. More solid somehow.

Films are all about smoke and mirrors.

Books are ... paperweights.

You can use books to anchor down more flimsey things, such as shopping lists and notes about interesting things you've seen and heard that'll be great for that scene when... - - when they aren't being read. The smaller dictionary I have makes a great paperweight for all my notes, and it's handily in reach on my desk at all times too! Books are more real... Except, it turns out they're not.

Anyhow, I'm gnashing my teeth. GRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRR!!!

After a lot of work I have now been told that "things have moved on" and my book is not going to be published afterall.

I knew I should have asked for a contract way back when. I feel really stupid.

Chalk it all up to lessons learned.

Excuse me while I go and sob into my coffee...

...and then I have to get on with that film rewrite.

And find a new publisher.

And ... does anyone know a good hitman? ;)


Darn! Procrastination just doesn't seem to be an available option today.

Ah crap, it's do or die time.

Phillip Barron's blog is so f**king entertaining and inspiring, I ignored common sense and responded to an advert on mandy.com which requested a synopsis and logline for a supernatural horror script.

I have one of those! I thought.

You may remember my feedback regarding The Grim? "It's not ready yet!" A unanimous verdict. Rewrite definitely required!

And seduced by the ease of email, I gayly sent off the synopsis despite the fact that the script is in DIRE NEED OF A REWRITE.

I'll have loads of time, I thought, they won't get back to me for weeks. Besides they'll hate it. I'll probably never hear from them again - - unless it's to tell me to stop contacting them.

Wrong. So very wrong.

2 days later... TWO. Count 'em! ... 2 days later they email me to request the script.

Now way back when I did start the rewrite, but then my time got taken up with other things like getting my book ready for publication, outlining new ideas, and working every-hour-there-is just so's I can pay the bills and eat. And then of course there's all the time taken up by pointless things like sleeping and eating and socializing...

Okay, it's nearly a year. You've got me, I'll cop to it. I have no excuse other than pure laziness. And now someone wants to see a supernatural horror script ASAP. DRAT!

So, I figure I've got about two days to rewrite The Grim to get it ship-shape and send it in before they read someone else's masterpiece and block all other email submissions!

What? They might. In my paranoid dreams they do at any rate.

Two days? Phill would laugh, easy, he'd say. - - Yeah right. In addition to that I made the mistake of agreeing to work overtime this weekend, so my days are fully taken. I have about an hour free after sunrise and and hour in the evening before sunset, but other than that I only have the dark, wee small hours to write in. Still it's a supernatural horror. It should add to the atmosphere of the piece. And I've always fancied staying awake for 48 hours straight when I'm not high on adrenaline and coffee from playing D&D like I used to back when I was 17.

I've been tired for the last two weeks and I didn't get much sleep last night due to my neighbours' very loud party... I wonder at what point I'll pass out on my laptop from exhaustion?

Wish me luck! ;)

Everything you ever wanted to know ... about procrastination (maybe)

DMc has a link to a great set of articles by The Slate on procrastination.

A cunning and viscious spiral trap if ever I fell into one!

Thanks. Denis.