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50,000 Monkeys at 50,000 Typewriters Can't Be Wrong

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WIL WHEATON dot NET
WIL WHEATON dot NET

50,000 Monkeys at 50,000 Typewriters Can't Be Wrong

Category: WWdN in Exile

the best thing i have ever read on the internets

Posted on 22 January, 2008 By Wil

Jonathan Coulton:

Really? This is a good use of your time, to make someone you’ve never
met feel bad just because they made an amateur fan video about
something they really like? Where’s your thing that you made and put
online for everyone to see, you chicken-shit cockhole?

He writes this in response to the idiots who have left hurtful, cruel, hateful comments on a fan-made cover of Still Alive that’s on YouTube.

Not that my opinion matters at all, speaking as someone who’s endured something similar for two decades, I deeply respect the courage this girl has to create something like this, and put it out on the Internets where chicken-shit cockholes can take cheap shots at her from the safe anonymity of their own miserable little lives.

I would also be remiss if I didn’t point to xkcd and Penny Arcade, which are both relevant to this post.

UPDATE: Yes, I am wilwheaton on YouTube, and I’m touched in the bad place that anyone thinks I’m worth impersonating.

propelled!

Posted on 22 January, 2008 By Wil

I’m working like crazy to get this Angel One review finished today so I can get started on some other (awesome) stuff that’s been bouncing around in my brains.

Until I have something new and interesting of my own to talk about, I’d like to share some really cool links I’ve found while Propelling in the last 24 hours:

Gordon Freeman crank calls Coast to Coast AM

Video Games – A theoretical physicist named "Gordon" called up the conspiracy wonks at Coast to Coast AM to tell ’em all about a mysterious government agent — a "G-Man" if you will — that he keeps seeing around. Lots of fantastic Half Life and Portal jokes for those who can read between the lines, here.

Marching band’s classic video game themed halftime show

Popular Videos – In this video, the UC Berkeley marching band performs a video-game-themed halftime show, playing the beloved themes from such old friends as Tetris, Zelda, Mario Brothers and others, all the while marching in animated formation and reenacting scenes from the
game. Bravo! [via boingboing]

The History of ‘It’ Girls (And Their Predictable Downfalls)

Celebrities – History has no dearth of young women who, once thrust into the limelight, manage to screw things up in astounding, stupefying ways. From extremely public and scandalous affairs to drug addiction to homelessness, It girls through the ages have been there, done that, and few have lived to tell the tale.

Now, it’s back to Angel One, where — contrary to what you’ve read in travel guides — they’re not as into the snu-snu as they once were.

Library of Congress puts thousands of photos on Flickr

Posted on 16 January, 2008 By Wil

File this under Coolest Damn Thing I’ve Seen All Day: The Library of Congress put over 3100 pictures on Flickr:

Library of Congress staff often make digital versions of our popular
image collections available online as quickly as possible by relying
primarily on the identifying information that came with the original
photos. That text can be incomplete and is even inaccurate at times. We
welcome your contribution of names, descriptions, locations, tags, and
also your general reactions.

It’s divided into two different sets:

1930s-40s in Color:

These vivid color photos from the Great
Depression and World War II capture an
era generally seen only in
black-and-white. Photographers working
for the United States Farm Security
Administration (FSA) and later the
Office of War Information (OWI) created
the images between 1939 and 1944.

News events in the 1910s:

Welcome to the daily news scene from
almost a hundred years ago, as
photographed by the Bain News Service in
about 1910-1912. We invite your tags and
comments! Also, lots more identification
information. (Most of these old photos
came to the Library of Congress with
very little description.)

This selected set of 1,500 photographs
is from a large collection of almost
40,000 glass negatives. The entire
collection spans 1900-1920 and richly
documents sports events, theater,
celebrities, crime, strikes, disasters,
and political activities, with a special
emphasis on life in New York City.

I’ve only looked at a few dozen of these pictures, but they’re just astonishingly beautiful. Many of them have a haunting quality, as well, and would make great Ficlet inspiration.

I Propelled this link the instant I saw it, if any propeller heads wish to vote for it.

where is my motivation?

Posted on 16 January, 2008 By Wil

2008 is the year of serious fiction writing for Wil, so it is also
going to be the year of reading like crazy to stay inspired and in the
proper headspace for writing. I’m quite excited for this, actually,
because it means I’ll be working through the stack of books (you’ll
find one in every house, you’ll see) almost as fast as I can add to it.

However, having finished my manga script and Penny Arcade foreword, I find myself massively unmotivated to do much of anything beyond Propelling links every day, burning through the Netflix queue, and catching up on whatever my DVR’s recorded for me in the last few months. And Xbox. And Nintendo DS.

This lack of motivation and focus is disturbing to me, and it’s dangerous, too. I’ve resolved to find my way out of Lazy Bum Town and back onto the Highway of Productivity before the end of the week.

Could it be that my brain wants to take a bit of a vacation? That I subconsciously need to just veg out and do nothing so it can recharge? Am I just undisciplined? Whatever the answer is, I need my brains back soon, because Andrew and I put together a 2008 release schedule for Monolith Press and — wait. That’s not right. I told Andrew about all the things I wanted to do this year and when I wanted to have them done, and he put together a schedule that is tough, but reasonable . . . if I can just get my damn brain into gear and find my motivation. Thank jeebus for Andrew, because he’s a hell of a lot more than just a good friend and a Red Pen of Doom.

I think the best way to get motivated is to give myself deadlines. And by "give myself" I mean "respect the deadlines Andrew set up for me." I think that I need inspiration too, though, and I’m going to get that by reading books I love, listening to audio books I love, and analyzing movies that I love. I got the idea to do what became Just a Geek and Dancing Barefoot because I was inspired by This American Life and David Sedaris. I’m working on some original science fiction because I’ve been inspired by Scalzi, Joe Haldeman, and Phillip K. Dick.

But that inspiration, and the desire to do something with it, is having a tough time achieving escape velocity from video games and movies, so maybe the whole thing comes down to discipline, which I understand is one of the toughest things for freelance writers who work out of their house to maintain.

the best thing, ever

Posted on 11 January, 2008 By Wil

Anne and I went into a little coffee place in Eagle Rock this afternoon, on a spur of the moment date.

While we waited, the girl who poured our coffee looked at me from behind the espresso machine and said, "Are you who I think you are?"

I’ve heard this question a lot in my life, and there really isn’t a good way to answer it that doesn’t make me feel like a dick.

"I’m not sure," I said. "Who do you think I am?"

She hesitated before saying, in a soft and uncertain voice, "Are you . . . Wil . . . Wil Wheaton?"

"Yeah," I said. "That’s me."

She blushed and smiled. "You’re my favorite!"

Anne, took my hand in hers and squeezed it. Her eyes sparkled. "He’s my favorite, too," She said.

I looked at my wife. I felt the same way I did when she said, "Yes."

"That’s the best thing, ever," I said.

***
Please read this note. Thanks.

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