Sunday, March 15, 1998
Last week, I finished reading the novelizations of the three Star Wars movies and wrote the plot summaries. This week I begin the actual nitpicking. Some fun, fun, stuff in there! (And, I have been delighted again with the Special Editions of the movies. Some really cool additions there.)
I received this from Brian Henley a few days ago:
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"Perusing the Odds and Ends section of [your web site], I came across the poem 'He's Losing His Grip on Reality'. I thought it thought provoking, which is peculiar, since I usually HATE most poetry.
"I happen to agree with you on how many folks in the world make the serious error of using movies and TV for educational purposes rather then what it's supposed to be used for, entertainment. Case in point, the Defibrillator Files. I never knew they how they were used untill my dad was rushed to the Hospital with a failing heart valve. (He's O.K.) I was shocked (but not as shocked as dad was!) to learn that the 'paddles' were used when the heart was still operational, and then disappointed at myself to have let the movies E.T. and Backdraft been my tutors!
"This is linked to your complaint on Bernard Shaw's appearence in The Lost World. People are too willing to allow the line between reality and fantasy blurr.
"I guess Nitpicking can offer a vaulable service in the world, aside from just being loads of fun. The nits in every movie serve as little windows through the fantasy that let in reality. They remind us that, even though the creators and producers and directors try so hard to give us our fantasy world filled with phasers, isoliniar chips, and aliens, they still are in the real world filled with runaway video cords, misplaced boom mikes, and actors who forget the existance of the number 4.
"Being an amature actor at college, I know that stage people try very hard to keep the fantasy and fiction perfect during the show, for the audiences benefit. Usually it works, since live audiences often look at mistakes as "all part of the act" If they only knew!
"Then there are sometimes where an actor completely forgets his lines, or slips and falls on stage, or the stage crew forgets to bring in a certian piece of debris from the previous scene, and you end up having things like a makeup sponge in an Army camp. The audience usually has a good laugh, and then the actors grow red-faced in the mandatory pause while the laugh dies down.
"Once back stage, they usually unleash a torrent of profanity that could make a veteren sailor blush, really upset that for a brief moment, the fiction world was shattered, and the line between reality and fiction was visible again.
"I think it's a credit to most folks in the entertainment biz that they keep up the fantasy for as long as they do. Nits are uncomfortortable things to be resonsible for, but they do help so bring that line into focus every now and then.
"'Losing His Grip on Reality'? I humbly beg to disagree. I think a nitpicker is one who has quite a firm hold on the real world!"
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I would only add the following: The title of the poem is meant as satire (which I'm sure Brian knew). And . . . though I don't talk about it much, I have always thought of nitpicking as serving a greater purpose than just amusement! (Shhhh. Don't tell anyone that it might have some redeeming qualities. If people think that nitpicking might be good for them, they might not enjoy it any longer! ;-) And finally, a question to ponder. Why do you think actors consider it so vitally important that they trick us into believing their fantasy is real? (There can be many opinions on this. Some of the possibilities are intriguing.)
Monday, March 16, 1998
Uploaded a few more nits for The Killing Game, Part 1 and Part 2 before freezing the file.
IMPORTANT ANNOUNCEMENT: The Brash Reflections for the third season of Voyager are officially frozen. However, you may feel free to send in additional nits for the episodes. I will keep the information for future reference and possible inclusion in a Voyager Nitpicker's Guide. Also frozen are Trials and Tribble-ations, along with all movie files. Also, aside from "Trials and Tribble-ations"--which was a special case, there aren't any Brash Reflections for DS9 on the website. Sorry. Just don't have the time to do another series and I started with Voyager when I started the homepage.
Tuesday, March 17, 1998
No uploads planned. Working on the April newsletter.
Wednesday, March 18, 1998
Updated the Nitpickers Guild Membership List and the Current Guild Statistics.
Thursday, March 19, 1998
No uploads planned. Working on the April newsletter!
Friday, March 20, 1998
Uploaded a new Ask the Chief column (Click here for last week's column.)
Saturday, March 21, 1998
No uploads planned.
United We Nitpick!
Phil
P.S. While you're surfing, be sure to stop by my Shameless Plugs page!