Showing posts with label website. Show all posts
Showing posts with label website. Show all posts

Monday, June 2, 2014

Five Cool Netflix Documentaries

Wanna learn something? Put these in your queue (or bogart a friend's Netflix).

5. Nightmares in Red, White and Blue: The Evolution of the Horror Film

     I didn't forget the Oxford comma, the filmmakers did. That's my sole complaint about this documentary. It's comprehensive, funny, and touches on a LOT of classics. A good overview of the genera and how it changed over history. I'm gonna re watch it as soon as I get half a minute of free time...


4. Best Worst Movie

     Some of you may already be familiar with the subject of this documentary, Troll 2. It's about Goblins, and it's not a sequel. This thing fails before it gets out of the gate. But what works is this documentary made by the kid who starred, mostly about the man who played his dad.

     George Hardy is a dentist, and apparently the nicest man in the world.Mr. Rogers levels of nice, people. Even his ex-wife couldn't find a bad thing to say about him. Then he stumbled into a cattle call for Troll 2, and history was made.
     This isn't just about Mr. Hardy: it's about the fandom that has sprung up around Troll 2. The conventions, the movie nights, the utter obsession: this stuff makes me look normal. Or at least at the top of a bell curve. Take a look!

3. Cropsey

     As an Amature Urban Folklorist (aka, I read a lot of Dr. Jan Harold Brunvand's work), this documentary about a legendary killer lurking in an abandoned asylum caught my attention. What held it was the in-depth look at the media and the court of public justice regarding the actual murders in the area, and the man convicted of them. Was he a modern Cropsey? Was he an innocent scapegoat? Watch and see what you think.

2. Never Sleep Again: The Elm Street Legacy

     Why another horror documentary after Nightmares in Red, White and Blue? Because this one is about my favorite scary movie, A Nightmare on Elm Street, and the resultant franchise. Plus, it's FOUR HOURS LONG. There's over 100 interviews with key players like Robert Englund, Bob Shaye, Heather Langencamp, Wes Craven, and basically everyone who was anyone to the franchise.
Except this nameless loser.

     This is THE definitive horror documentary, folks. Granted, I'm only up to Nightmare on Elm Street Five: The Dream Child, and have an hour and a half to go. I'm planning on buying the 2 disk DVD set, which has EVEN MORE STUFF. So excited.

1. Blackfish

     Like Sea World? Like Free Willy? Like smiling young people in swimsuits? Yeah, you're gonna be sad after watching this. But you need to be sad. Short version? Killer Whales are called that for a reason. But here's the twist: a whale has NEVER been known to kill a human in the wild. JUST in captivity.
     It's a harsh look into Sea World, and places like it. This has graphic and very disturbing imagery. Blood is shed, and not all of it's human. People break down in this. I urge you, if you only watch one documentary on this list, MAKE IT THIS ONE. No joke, folks. None at all.

Tuesday, May 6, 2014

Five online writing tools

These are excellent things I either use, or intend to start using immediately. Some are good for fiction and non-fiction, some only one or the other. Take a look, see what you like!

5. Rainy Mood
     Okay, this isn't a writing website, per say. It's a site that plays the sound of falling rain. And for those of us who can't work when it's too quiet, or with rock music blasting, it's perfect. There are a lot of sites and you tube clips like this, but Rainy mood is my personal favorite.
Another fine choice.

4. Fix Your Writing Habits (blog)

     This is geared towards the fiction writer, but there are resources for everyone. Several times a day these helpful folks publish lists of resources and a host of other things. Like this translation guide:
      There's also a list of insomnia resources, citation and style guides, and answers to submitted questions like how to make your zombie romance not cliche. Give 'em a look! You'll be surprised what you find.

3. Write a Haiku
     Perfect for those pesky high-school writing assignment, or just a fun way to be creative on the fly. I'll kill time on here with the writing equivalent of doodles. Here's a masterpiece now:

almost time for work. / i wish i had the day off. / hooray, pizza lunch
And it's true to boot!


2. Query Shark

     Need to prefect your query letter? Then the literal hundreds of blog entries here are for you. This is the most comprehensive guide to do and don't EVER: real life examples ripped apart by the shark until they're brilliant. Several of the writers are now published thanks to the shark.

     Not trying to query something? Have a look and see how incredibly insane some of these are. It's a real eye opener.
Lets all be chums!


1. Edit Minion
No, sadly not.

     This website is my go-to before I post things now. You pick what you want it to scan for, it highlights the offenders, and give you a color coded grade from green to red. Simple! And check the perfect checklist: Adverbinator, Weak Words, 'Said' replacements, Passive Voice, Ending with Preposition, Tricky Homonyms, Clichés, Common Misspellings, Frequently Used Words.

     I don't give a fig about sentences with preposition endings. So I just uncheck that box! Simple. Perfect for any type of writing. Enjoy. 

Wednesday, April 30, 2014

Five Websites you need to Bookmark

     A few super cool websites to help you in your daily life.

5. Supercook
   
     This website lets you put in whatever ingredients you have on hand, and spits out recipes.  With as little as flour and eggs, you can be on your way to food. Perfect for the college student, or those of us who need to go shopping.


4. LifeHacker

     This site covers a multitude of tips and has great articles: How to make your office greener, Money saving habits that can backfire, Eating Seasonally and Locally, and about a million others. Just type in a search term, or browse whats popular. Learn stuff today


3. DuoLingo

     Want to learn the basics of French, Spanish, German, or Portuguese? This is the place to do it. There are easy lessons to take at your own pace, to get to basic conversational levels. I'm done with the first lesson in German already. Ich bin eine Frau!



2. Tickld

          Tickld is a funny picture website. That's really it. It gets content from all over the web, so it's a one-stop-shop for internet trends. Check out these gems:


     There are hits and misses, but it's a pretty good ratio.

1. Click to give

     Nothing flashy. Click on this site once a day, click the button, and help save animals. It takes literally a second. Do it. Doooo it.