Author: Wil

Author, actor, producer. On a good day, I am charming as fuck.

busy busy busy

Posted on By Wil

I‘ve been busy today. I wrote next week’s Games of our Lives, did some top secret Team PokerStars stuff that I can’t wait to announce, wrote two articles for CardSquad (Yet Another Interview with Wil and Why Didn’t Mike Nail Petra? The Writers of "Rounders" Finally Reveal the Answer) and read the script for Legion of Super Heroes which I’m recording on Friday.

It’s really cool, and I totally can’t say anything about it until I get a thumbs up from Warner Brothers, but I believe the phrase that the damn kids today use to describe my feeling upon reading the script is "ZOMG!"  When the script says, "ENERGY CORUSCATES around him until the power is too strong . . ." you know you’re working on something hawesome.

another example of the power of the blog-o-sphere

Posted on By Wil

Howwouldapatriotactcover
Over the last few months,Glenn Greenwald has rapidly become one of my favorite political bloggers, joining Digby, Joe Gandelman and John Cole. Just like those guys, he is intelligent, well-researched, intellectually honest and consistent, and whenever I read one of his posts, I feel enlightened, if outraged. In fact, it’s because of guys like those (and Avarosis, and C&L, and Peter Daou) that I rarely write political posts these days; if I can’t say it as well as they can, I don’t see the point.

Glenn is about to release a book, researched by bloggers and inspired by his own blog called How Would A Patriot Act? Defending American Values from a President Run Amok. His book is published by Working Assets, which is a very small press (they’re primarily a long distance provider which was coincidentally started by a friend of a friend.)

The reason I mention this is not because I think it’s a book that everyone should read (it is) but because it’s a book, like Just A Geek and Dancing Barefoot, that was born on a blog, nurtured by bloggers and blog readers, and did something neither of my books was able to do: rocket up to number one on Amazon almost immediately after it was announced. Just A Geek peaked in the teens, if I recall correctly, thanks entirely to the efforts of bloggers and WWdN readers.

In a very short time, Glenn has made substantial contributions to the blog-o-sphere, and it’s wonderful to see him getting some recognition from the same. Congratulations, Glenn!

Oklahoma Politicians Decide Some Videogames are “Harmful to Minors”

Posted on By Wil

Oklahoma’s State Senate unanimously passed a bill that would equate videogames like HALO and Grand Theft Auto 3 with hardcore pornography, making it a crime to sell those games to anyone under the age of eighteen:

HB3004 seeks to amend an existing Oklahoma statute, and redefine what
is considered "harmful to minors." Authored by State Rep. Fred Morgan
(R), the bill would add "inappropriate violence" to the statute. In the
actual wording of the bill, "harmful to minors" means: "the material or
performance lacks serious literary, scientific, medical, artistic, or
political value for minors."

[. . .]

Virtually everyone can agree that there are games which are clearly
inappropriate for children, but that’s what ratings and parents are
for. Why is it that Republican lawmakers are gung-ho for personal
responsibility and government abstinence when it comes to healthcare,
welfare, and minimum-wage laws, but they can’t vote "aye" fast enough
when it comes to intrusively legislating morality?

If this bill becomes law, it will be a crime to sell a "harmful" game
to a anyone under 18. There are countless reasons that this is
incredibly stupid, among them the fact that a 17 year-old can buy
himself a ticket to a graphically violent film like Saw or Hostel, or a sexually-charged film like Showgirls.
But that same 17 year-old couldn’t legally purchase DOOM 3, and the
person who sold it to him would be criminally liable. How does this
make sense? The answer is, it doesn’t. Bills like this have nothing to
do with protecting the children or seriously addressing issues which
need governmental attention. Bills like this are entirely about
election-year pandering to the ultra-conservative minority who
unfortunately make up the modern Republican Base.

You can read the rest at the SGGeekwire.

on poker and acting

Posted on By Wil

Last week, Otis asked me if I’d write a few words for the PokerStars newsletter about how acting and poker mix together, and if I’d discuss how acting has helped my poker game.

I tried to answer intelligently and keep it brief, but since it takes
me 200 words to say hello to someone, it shouldn’t be a big surprise
that I ended up sending Otis a little over 2800 words about acting,
poker, and Almost Famous. I was so long-winded, in fact, that Otis ended up using the power of the fully-operational PokerStars blog to handle the Alderaan-destroying mountain of words I sent.

If you’re interested in the poker stuff, or want to know how I’ve been able to combine my acting experience with my poker game, you can read the whole thing at the PokerStars blog.

For the rest of you, here’s a little bit about acting that you don’t have to be a poker geek to follow:

As an actor:
1) I have to be completely connected to the other
actors in the scene, so my character understands what the other
characters are doing, why they are doing it, and I (as the actor) can
allow my character to react naturally and realistically. rather than
"acting."
2) I have to completely commit to everything that my
character does, and allow my character’s memories, beliefs, and prior
experiences (that I have made up) to truly _live_ in me, like they are
real, so that all the unconscious physical signals that come with
different emotions happen naturally, rather than as a result of
"acting."

For an actor, getting caught "acting" is worse than a
poker player getting caught bluffing; it’s more like getting caught
cheating. So we actors work very hard to make sure it never happens.

[. . .]

One of my favorite examples of this is from Almost Famous. Kate
Hudson, as Penny Lane, asks Patrick Fugit, as William Miller, if he’ll
go with her to Morocco.

When she asks him, they’ve been running
around a park together, and it’s clear to the audience that they’re
falling in love. It’s really charming to watch, and unless you’re
deeply cynical, it’s tough to not smile with them, recalling the first
time you fell in love.

"I’ve made a decision, I’m gonna live in Morocco for one year. I need a new crowd. Do you wanna come?" She says.

"Yes!" He says.

"Are you sure?" She says.

He looks at her, like he was completely lost in her, and says, "Ask me again."

She flushes, and she says, more intently, "Do you want to come?"

"Yes! Yes!" He says, as some seventies power ballad starts to play.

According
to director Cameron Crowe, Patrick asked Kate to ask him again, because
he’d been staring at her, and just got lost in that moment, so he
missed his line. But he was still in the scene, so he asked her exactly
the way he would have if it had been real. Kate stayed focused on him,
stayed in the scene, and asked him again, so we have this incredibly
wonderful moment of two people falling in love that probably has many
of you running to Netflix to queue it up right now. If either one of
them hadn’t been completely focused on each other, that moment (which
would have been impossible to script) never would have happened. If
we’d caught them "acting," it would have ruined that moment, and the
whole movie would have suffered as a result.

Did I pique your interest? Heh. So go on, read the whole thing. You know you want to.

w00t! Montreal, here I come! (uh, maybe not. see update)

Posted on By Wil

I didn’t notice until just now that Montreal has reached critical mass! I’m shocked that the demand grew so quickly, but right now there are 91 people who want to see me do my thing (or a puppet show, I’m not good with French) and that’s enough for me to track down a bookstore and get things worked out.

CruiseTrek embarks on Saturday, 24 June (I wrote it that way just for you, Montreal) and I’m committed to some CruiseTrek festivities on Friday, 23 June, so whatever I do in Montreal will happen on Thursday 22 June. That’s also good for all you Browncoats up there, who would totally have to blow me off if my puppet show conflicted with the charity screenings of Serenity on the 23rd. Update: Shit. That’s actually extremely bad news for you Browncoats; the only day I can do a performance and signing is the 22nd, because I’m committed on the 23rd. I don’t think it’s appropriate for me to jump onto any Serenity screenings or anything like that, because not everyone who is going to be there will appreciate me taking up any of their time, and if I understand it correctly, most of the people who have joined this demand are Serenity fans who. I’ll see if I can work out something in the late afternoon on Friday, before my evening commitments commence, but this event may end up not happening this time around. %$#@!.

I know nothing about Montreal’s book store scene, so if someone can help point me at an indie bookstore that wants to feel the love, leave some info in comments or e-mail wil at wilwheaton dot net.

 

I’m working on finalizing a venue for Boston today. I’ll post those details (and updates on Montreal) as soon as I have them.

Oh, and a quick note about demands: the critical mass is always going to vary from city to city, based on what it costs me to get there, the venues, and some other factors. I set critical mass for these two events at 75 because I figured that would be a sufficient number to get the attention of bookstore owners. It’s unlikely that critical mass will be lower than 100 or 150 for most events, just based on stupid economics.