The Fractal Hall Journal

Hello, readers, and a happy new year to all. A proper one this time, rather than the perfunctory one from the other day.

Plenty of ups and downs over the past few months all over the place, which is a bit of an understatement. I certainly can’t remember a New Year starting so, you know, unpredictably. Where the Journal’s concerned, I think I’ve just about got ahead of the problems that kicked off in November. Unsurprisingly, blogging’s a habit like any other, and you get out of it after a few weeks of not doing it.

Part of the problem is trying to find somewhere to start. It’s not like plenty of things haven’t kicked off in the realms of the nerdish, from whatever the heck is going on in comics to the inauguration of perhaps the most important public figure on the planet: the 11th Doctor.

I’m really looking forward to Matt Smith on Who while dreading Tennant’s departure, and for whatever reason Smith’s arrival is causing a lot of- discomfort, I suppose is the word. Which is a good thing. The Doctor should never be a completely comfortable character, and Tennant’s made it very easy for the audience to be comfortable with him.

On a slightly related point, do you know the number one thing I fucking detest about the internet? When the very first thing any commentator feels the need to add onto any post, be it blog, twitter or fucking Facebook status, is a dismissive comment about the content.

For example:

Jimmy Fanboy is excited about matt smith as who!!!

John McFucknuts says: Eh, I don’t like him. Won’t be watching.

You know what I mean. A terse, pointless and uncorroborated one liner that adds nothing to the conversation. A little dig that says more about someone’s need to be noticed than to actually contribute. The Doctor thing was just the most obvious recent example.

I don’t mind disagreement. Not at all. By all means, should anyone disagree with me on anything, well, that’s why Comments are On. But at least try and make it look like a conversation. Facebook and its ilk are the worst perpetrators, because if you post a blog you’re asking for interaction. If you’re just telling the world what you’re happy about, it seems really mean that the first thing so many of your Fake Internet Friends want to do is kill your mood.

I know, I know. Mean? The internet? Heavens forefend.

I’m reminded of two parallel examples, one recent and one from a while ago that annoyed me so much it’s stayed with me. MightyGodKing notes that a drum and base track- Propane Nightmares by Pendulum- would be good to use in a trailer for a Flash movie. My first thought on listening to the track was to disagree. Not to jump into comments and let the world know that with a one sentence dismissal, mind, just to disagree. I don’t like drum and base, and I don’t really like the track.

But after listening to a while, I found myself agreeing with him. He’s right, it would do the job perfectly. And I found the song growing on me a bit. That kind of thing isn’t my cup of tea, but I can appreciate the merit of a piece of work that’s had some skill applied to it.

John Scalzi once posted a YouTube clip of Travis Barker overlaying drums onto the somewhat duff Soulja Boy track Crank That (incidentally, Trigg, if you’re reading this I meant to send you this link ages ago.) I like R’n'B even less than drum and base, and I’ve never been that big a fan of Blink-182, but even so the Barker video is brilliant. It’s a fantastic example of a different spin the application of specific talent can put on something.

Needless to say, the comments on the posts are a list of banal denials and disagreements. I don’t know how Scalzi does it, incidentally. It must be like having Statler and fucking Waldorf appended to everything you write.

I didn’t really want the first post back to be so negative, but it’s got on my nerves recently and I needed to get it off my chest. Expect tomorrow’s post to be a little bit brighter.