Why I’m ok with Reboots and Remakes

Yes they are Rebooting Reboot. Lol

From Ghostbusters to Fantastic Four this week, we’ve seen plenty of trailers and announcements for Reboots or Remakes.

Yes they are Rebooting Reboot. Lol

Definitions

A Remake, if you don’t know, is a new version of the same story. It includes the same characters and often the same plot. Robin Hood and A Christmas Carol are probably two of the most remade stories as movies.

A Reboot/Reimagining keeps the general idea of the original but changes it and moves things around. A reboot would be for a series while a reimagining would be for a standalone movie.

Think of Mickey’s Christmas Carol as a Remake and Scrooged as a Reimagining.

Nothing New

It would seem that Hollywood has run out of ideas and that they are literally ripping stories from books or just remaking the same movies over and over again. It may even seem like this is a new phenomenon.

It isn’t. The Book Captain Blood published in 1922 was made into a movie in 1924, remade in 1935 with Errol Flynn, and then remade another 4 times before 1991. I guess it’s due.

If that isn’t enough of an example let’s go back to Robin Hood. The story is based off of 15th century ballads and was first written into a book in 1819 by Walter Scott. There have been, according to Wikipedia, 35+ books based off the legend and ballads.

From 1939 to 2013 there have been 67 versions of Robin Hood with at least one confirmed new version coming up.

Taking inspiration from myth’s, plays, and legends is a standard practice in any storytelling medium. Any writer who says they’ve written something completely original is lying.

Why’s it ok

Stories are ways for each of us to think about and see the world differently. There are stories that will always be iconic and why bother trying to dress up your sci-fi “Thief with a heart of gold that steals from the rich and gives to the poor” when you just call it Robin Hood in the 28th century.

Movies, and to a lesser extent books, are the myths that we tell each other. They are this century’s and the lasts way of exploring what it is to be alive and what it is to be a storyteller.

Whether your childhood Superman is from Action Comics, cartoons, George Reeves, Christopher Reeves, Dean Cain, Brandon Ruth, Tom Welling, Henry Cavill or Kirk Alyn. Having a new version doesn’t lessen the impact it had on you as a child.

I don’t know the percentage but for every crappy Remake/Reboot/Reimagining there is a chance for a great one.

That chance and hope of seeing something you love done well is worth the innumerable bad versions.

Doctor Who

Remember that the longest running Science Fiction show has 813 episodes over 61 years.

A big part of that is due to its ability to regenerate itself every few years.

 

What Reboot, Reimagining, Remake, Sequel, or Spinoff are you must looking forward to?

Éric

I Don’t Have a Plan

Felix Felicis

When I sit down to write a novel I have character outlines, plot points, an ending, and a structure all planed out. When I write a short story, I have them even more plotted.

Yesterday my wife asked me how many more parts there were going to be to The Ridiculous Adventures of Felix Felicis and I answered completely honestly with, “I have no idea.”

I’ve been writing it as a serial novel and I have a general idea of his character arc but have no clue of anything else. I’m writing by the seat of my pants and I’m having fun doing it.

So for anyone wondering, the story of Felix will end April 2nd. How many other silly adventures he’ll have, I have no clue. I just write it when I feel like writing it.

If there’s something you want to see in the story, let me know.

Everdome

I love writing Everdome. Getting to know the characters and seeing how they’ll eventually end up together on the reality show is fun. I’m still in the honeymoon, “Everything is Awesome” phase of writing a new book, where it’s all about discovery and foreshadowing.

Rants

I haven’t done a proper rant in a while, it’s not that I haven’t had the motivation, it’s just that I haven’t felt the need.

Lots of stuff makes me want to rant from serious issues like Gamergate to personal pet peeves like the Hobbit trilogy but I haven’t found anything that I felt I could say something new about. It’s been said by plenty of other people.

 

Do you have an article or topic you’d like me to rant about?

Latter Days,

Éric

Hall of the Americas

There was the facade of a house, and many statues in the courtyard in this area of the Metropolitan Museum of Art. No wonder the Doctor showed up! So many Weeping Angels!

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I am helping to organize a new craft fair that is happening March 21, 2015. It is called CON Creative Ottawa Nerds. You can say that you’re going to the event here, and you can like our Facebook page here. Éric wrote about it here.

Astrid and Hiccup

These two really don’t need an introduction. Their movie “How to Train Your Dragon 2” won a Golden Globe for Best Animated Movie this year.

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I am helping to organize a new craft fair that is happening March 21, 2015. It is called CON Creative Ottawa Nerds. You can say that you’re going to the event here, and you can like our Facebook page here. Éric wrote about it here.

The Ridiculous Adventures of Felix Felicis – Part Seven

Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3 | Part 4 | Part 5 | Part 6

“How the heck are we going to get out now?” Felix looked across the chasm that they had somehow crossed.

“We can just time Jump from here,” Amanda, Miss Eris, said.

At the same time they looked at their hands that were both resting on the large diamond they then turned to each other and smiled.

The past day (was it really just a day?) had been filled with nonsense, dirt, and chaos but through it all Miss Eris had been there stalwart in her mission to save his life. That dedication impressed him.

The jump was no more pleasant than it had been before. The found themselves in a small village.

“Where are we? Shouldn’t we be bringing this thing,” he waved the diamond around, “To Tesla?”

Looking at him in the way his grade school teacher once had when he asked what the point of playing well with others was, she said, “Felix. We must do our best to not disturb the timelines. This means we must find that gangster’s grandmother and give her the gem.”

Rolling his eyes, Felix replied, “I hate time travel. How do we find the woman? All we know of him is that he’s a mob boss and kind of impatient.”

She snorted at the last comment and giggled. He ignored her outburst and looked around. It was a small village, assuming they were at the right place. The words quaint and smelly came to mind.

“Get out of my way, you stupid foreigner. You might be able to laze about all day but some of us have to do an honest day’s work.” Standing behind them was a woman who didn’t look impressed in the least. She also looked awfully familiar.

Holding his hand out he said, “Sorry ma’am, you’re perfectly right. Take this diamond as an apology.”

Scowling at him in the exact same way her grandson would, she took the jewel and continued on her way.

“Well that was easy. Now let’s go steal it back and get this damned day over with,” he was about to mention how he was looking forward to reading in front of his fake fireplace, the real ones were too messy, but he had forgotten had his apartment had exploded.

“Run!” Miss Eris took his hand into hers and pulled him down through a field. He considered asking why, or looking back to see what was chasing them but decided he’d rather not know. He concentrated on not falling and keeping up with Miss Eris.

As he stared down at his feet and where they were to land he saw that Miss Eris was still wearing those ridiculous high heels. He scoffed internally at the vanity of such footwear, and then had to admit she was quite nimble in them. He felt that it was him that was holding them up.

“How are you running in those?” he couldn’t help but ask.

His question must have broken her concentration because she paused in mid stride and fell forwards, right off a small hill, pulling him along with her. They tumbled down the long hill until they hit a grassy area at the bottom. Somewhere along the way he’d lost a sleeve.

Sitting and catching his breath he looked at the shoes again and shook his head, “Is it some sort of future technology? Are they the time machine?”

Her hair, that had escaped it’s bun in the diamond temple, was now all over the place. Her hair was a light reddish brown, now spotted with grass, twigs and other things.

“I just got used to them that’s all. They’re very comfortable,” her indomitable calm seemed flustered. She seemed angry.

“I find flat shoes uncomfortable I assumed those would be worse,” he said, trying to keep any indignation out of his voice. He didn’t want to offend her. Which was a lot for Felix, it meant he cared about her feelings. Feelings were messy, stupid things, but he didn’t want her hurt.

“Oh. In my time when you buy shoes, you choose the style and they scan your feet to make sure you have a perfect fit.”

“Ok. Are we safe from what we were running from?” He still wasn’t convinced that the heels could ever be comfortable, like dress shoes they should be made not to be comfortable. If Felix wanted to be comfortable he would work from home and avoid dress clothes all together.

“I don’t see the dinosaur that was chasing us,” She looked up the hill.

Standing up and offering her his hand Felix sighed, “Shall we go?”

Once again they jumped but this time instead of making him sick, it made him very sick. He was extremely happy to find a waste basket next to him as they appeared.

Once he’d lost what little food he’d eaten that day he looked up at his bedroom. “Oh thank god I’m home.” He headed towards his closet and opened it but instead of a change of clothes there was just a grey metal wall.

Turning around he saw that one whole wall of his bedroom was a glass mirror. On the other side of the mirror were children, at least he assumed they were children, they were small and of various shapes and sizes. He thought it rather looked like Halloween or a Star Trek convention.

The children were gawping and drooling, as children always do though Felix.

“Where are we?” he asked.

“We’re in a museum,” Amanda replied, looking utterly defeated. That’s when he noticed the sign just to the left of their little exhibit that said, “Early third millennium time travellers.”

“Shall we leave?” he asked offering her his hand.

Looking a little sick, Amanda gave him a sad look and said, “We can’t. The fall damaged the time travel device.”

Read Next

Temple

The Temple from the side. It was super gorgeous. I zoomed in and got a great view of the carving on it that we couldn’t see from where we were standing.

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I am helping to organize a new craft fair that is happening March 21, 2015. It is called CON Creative Ottawa Nerds. You can say that you’re going to the event here, and you can like our Facebook page here. Éric wrote about it yesterday here.

Busy, Busy, Busy!

Hello my Imaginary Friends,

The code word right now is busy. I had a chance to work on Everdome yesterday but seeing the pile of work ahead I’m guessing I won’t get a chance until next week to work on it again.

The downside to writing a new novel, especially in the first half, is the lack of sleep. It might seem weird but my mind has been obsessing about the story and everything I can, and should be doing with it. It means I haven’t been able to shut my mind off until past midnight the past three or four days. I just keep running new and interesting scenes through my head… sigh.

A Study in Aether

I got a surprising email from the publishing company I thought either hated me or had forgotten about me. They emailed to say that they were super behind and I should be patient, they’re still interested in my book but haven’t gotten to it. (I submitted in November 2013) The biggest issue I have with writing and the publishing industry is that things move glacially. But I’ll take this as a good news and see what happens.

I still plan on editing it and passing it on to a new beta reader, once I get the chance to work on it.

Coffee

I’m going to be testing two new flavours this weekend, Raspberry, and Apple. I’m looking forward to seeing how fruity flavours mix with coffee.

C.O.N Creative Ottawa Nerds

IMG_29868975732683My wife and some friends are organizing a Craft fair for local Nerdy/Geeky creators. . It’ll be awesome!

Remember March 21st!

Check out the page: https://www.facebook.com/CON.CreativeOttawaNerds

It’s going to be at St. Richards Church House (8 Withrow Avenue, Nepean, Ontario)

There will be facepaiting for the kids, plush animals, magnets, crocheted things, buttons, books, clothing, cosplay supplies and much much more.

Oh and did I mention there will be coffee? I’ll have 100g bags of coffee for $10. Once I order the supplies I’ll open pre-orders.

Ok, back to work!

Later days,

Éric

Coffee Bean Hack

I’m still fighting this damned annoying cold and once again writing to you from the place I plan on writing all my novels when I make it big or retire. Our library is awesome.

I’ve recently come into 8-10 lbs of coffee beans. If you’ve read my blog or talked to me, you know I prefer flavoured coffee over regular. It’s not that I don’t like regular coffee, most of it I do but why have a regular coffee when you can have cinnamon.

Making Flavoured Coffee Bean Hack

Ingredients

Method

  1. Preheat your oven to 450 degrees Fahrenheit
  2. Spread coffee beans on a clean cookie sheet
  3. Roast coffee for 1 minute in oven
  4. Remove and place in a bowl let cool 15-30 minutes until beans are warm
  5. Add oil to beans mix well and put in a covered container.
  6. Let the beans rest 24 hours.

Warnings

  • Over flavouring will result in a bitter maple taste. Let the bean rest in open air for 2-12 hours to mellow the taste
  • Certain flavours, like Banana Cream have a natural bitter taste that shouldn’t be mixed with dark coffee.

 

Enjoy and let me know how you like the recipe.

Éric