Keep working

Getting old I’m getting lazy*.
So I need all the help I can to keep on track with my work.

So, right now I’m working on a game-related project, putting together a thing tentatively called The Claws of the Purple Cat.

Writing a game scenario is quite fun, but it is not like writing a story.
It’s more like putting together a construction kit for a story.

I’m writing in blocks – chunks of information that the game keeper will be able (hopefully) to assemble in the way and inthe order that fits his game.

It’s quite interesting, but as I said – I’m lazy.
So, to keep on the straight and narrow, I’m using you – my readers.

There’s a word countere here on the right – courtesy of Writertopia.
It shows my progress.
This way, I can’t let go and waste time napping or watching old Penguins of Madagascar reruns without publicly losing face.
Nice and smooth.
I’m blackmailing myself into working with a serious schedule.

And now, back to work.

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*Not that when I was younger I was any different, but my health was better, and I had more energy.

Brothers

A quick and unusual post this sunday.
I’ve been made aware of an initiative that I think needs all the bandwidth we can give it.

In a nutshell – a man is looking for his brither.
His twin brother.
The two kids were separated, and lost touch with each other.
They were both in Auschwitz, part of Mengele’s twin experimentation project.

So the guy seeking his brother put up a Facebook page.
This is not cute kittens, big-boobed chicks or stupid cosplayers.
This is important.

What follows is the link.
Take a look.
Spread the word.

https://www.facebook.com/pages/A7734/499971010060858

Phishers of Men 2 – The Return

The problem with GoogleTranslate of course is, it can’t handle complex texts.
But let’s proceed with order.

As mentioned in an earlier post, I was contacted by some phishers whose hook letter was so good in terms of content and form, and so riddled with grammar and spelling errors, I offered them my translator services.
Well, they got back at me.
Offering me a translation job.
The cheeky bastards!

And so I was contacted by a noted and well respected American author – whose work I translated in the past – offering me the urgent translation of a 12.000 word document.

And to tell you the truth, the first mail seemed legit.
OK, it came through a gmail.com account and sounded like a template job, but that’s ok – for all I knew, it was a preliminary thing sent to me and a dozen other colleagues…
So I replied, quoting a figure for the translation, proposing a standard contract, and asking for details.
I was sold.
After all, translating stuff is my job – currently, my main paying job:  it is what puts bread on my table and keeps the light on (and the web connection going!)
So, ok, I mailed back my proposal.

And I got a reply!

On my TV – Sanctuary

I was rather unconvinced, when I first saw the earlier episodes of Sanctuary, the Canadian TV series starring Amanda Tapping.
I think it was the rather clunky (?) CGI sets.
And yet, today – as the fourth series is being aired here in Italy – I’m a fan.
I actually like it a lot better than, say, Eureka (which bores me to death) or Battlestar Galactica.

After all, a series featuring a science team investigating cryptozoology to protect the cryptids, featuring a sasquatch as a character, involving much (computer-generated) globetrotting, an ancient race of Twilight-free vampires, a hollow earth setting, references to ancient mysteries and whatnot…?
With Jack the Ripper as one of the good guys?
And a descendant of Thor Heyerdahl as a member of the cast?
Together with that woman from Stargate SG-1?

C’mon – it’s obvious that my interest for the series should border on the fetish.
Add the slightly steampunkish feel of some episodes and of part of the premises, and I’m sold.

Journeys on the Silk Road

The latest addition to my ever-growing library of books about the Silk Road is Journeys on the Silk Road *, by Joyce Morgan and Conrad Walters.
The book was published in 2012 and was a gift from my brother.

The book focuses on Aurel Stein’s second Silk Road expedition, between 1906 and 1908.
Following his passion for the history of Central Asia and a series of often unlikely leads, Stein reached the Mogao Caves – also known as the Caves of Thousand Buddhas – in the Taklamakan region, and there he started playing a bargaining game with the local monk, the Daoist Wang.
At the end of a long battle of wits, the monk agreed to part with a few thousand ancient texts, which had been waiting in a cave for eight centuries.
The collection – which Stein acquired somewhat wholesale for 130 sterling pounds – included texts in a number of languages, and on a variety of subjects, from sacred texts to personal letters.
A veritable cross-cut of a multicultural community whose existence had never been suspected by western scholars.
The bundle included the oldest printed book known – a woodblock print copy of the Diamond Sutra, one of the central texts in the Buddhist canon.
Morgan & Walter’s text does therefore shift its attention from the old explorer to the text, outlining its importance for the development of Buddhist culture in Asia, but also its impact on Western culture.

All in all, a book that touches on so many interests of mine, it was impossible for me not to like it a lot – I started and finished it in one day, also thanks a very long train journey.

The volume is highly enjoyable and gives a sympathetic, humane portrait of Stein, a giant of archaeology who’s been somewhat forgotten by the public, and whose activities in Cantral Asia are often portrayed as piracy and plunder, not excavation and research.
The book keeps a balanced view of Stein’s work, while presenting the reader with a character that is, as they say, larger than life.

Filled with anecdotes, quotes from Stein’s diaries, books and letters and a good number of funny bits.
Stein’s companions on the road and his competitors in the race for the Mogao Caves are a gallery of unique characters.

Great reading.
And the book is also supported by a nice and informative website.

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* The title “Journeys on the Silk Road”, and variations thereof, must be the most widely used when Central Asian travel and Silk Road exploration are concerned.
Which is not bad – dial it in the Amazon search window, and you’ll find a treasure trove of great reads, and excellent music.

Ray

I grew up with his movies – he was one of the men responsible for the idea I have in my mind when I think “fantasy”.
He made movies with monsters.
He made special effects.

Ray Harryhausen is dead.
He was 93.