teslac0ils

As mentioned previously, after watching the film, I decided to check out Conclave by Robert Harris.

There are a few differences between the novel and the film, but mostly they're minor changes (Lawrence = Lomeli in the novel, Benitez is Filipino in the novel rather than Mexican, etc). I do seem to recall that the turtle scene wasn't in the book; I'm kind of surprised that they added that for the movie, but it was a lovely character moment and Benitez looks kind of like a romance film protagonist in that scene, so I'm certainly not complaining.

Some of the scenes were more effective in the movie than the novel, I think. But that could be due to acting and directorial choices and so on. The one that comes to mind is the saying grace scene after Benitez is introduced to everyone - in the novel, Benitez just says the whole thing, and that's that. But in the film, he pauses after saying the usual spiel, and everyone thinks he's finished and starts to sit down - but then he continues, thanking the Sisters and reminding the others of the impoverished etc, and the effect is very striking.

There are some differences between the novel and the film that I did find interesting, even if the change doesn't affect the overall plot.

( Continued, spoilers )

Overall, I wouldn't say that the novel is a must-read if you liked the film, but I enjoyed it a lot and I think that if you wanted more after watching the movie, it's a good direction to go. Plus you get more into Lomeli's (Lawrence)'s head, etc. On the reverse, I don't think I would actually recommend it without seeing the film first, because the film really is rather good and there are a few things that I thought it did better. (Though I might be biased.)

I'm feeling very discouraged about the upcoming federal election. And I don't just mean like, on the big picture level, but at the local level.

My district will go to the Conservative candidate no matter what. This is northern Alberta; enough said. Even so, I'm disappointed that the other candidates aren't making more of an effort. People shouldn't have to go digging for information about why they should vote for you in particular to represent them (rather than just looking up the general party platform); it should be easy to access.

Additionally, some of the candidates don't even live in the riding*. FIFO (fly-in, fly-out) is a sore spot up here even when talking about regular workers; there is no way anybody in Fort Mac is going to vote for a candidate who doesn't have ties to the region.

Some things I'm taking into consideration are:
Which party aligns closest with my values?
Which non-Conservative party do I think is most likely to win nationally?
Which candidate for my riding do I actually like the best and would theoretically want to represent me based on the information that I have?

Unfortunately, the answers to those questions are all different. But advance voting opens tomorrow morning, so I guess I'll come to a decision soon.

Even though there is unlikely to be a shakeup here, I hope that there will be enough non-CPC votes that the other parties will take that into account and at least make more of an attempt in this region next time.

On the subject of the Conservative candidate for my region - I've been a little frustrated about this. I was speaking recently with some people who will not be voting for her, which is great. But the only thing they're interested in discussing is the fact that she's related to someone who has a criminal record. As far as I know, Laila Goodridge was not involved in the robbery*. There is plenty to criticize her for on her own merits and her party's merits, and personally I don't think we should take her family member's actions into account here.

Worked on some fic today for the first time in, uh, months. Wasn't even writing per se, just typing up a draft that I finished last year. It felt really good to work on something, though.

Due to my drastically reduced free time, I guess I need to make more effort to slip this kind of thing in whenever possible. It will probably help that it's much warmer now - It's easier to motivate myself to walk down to the cafe and sit down and work on things and not do anything else for an hour or two. On the weekend, that is.

This year will probably be no exchanges for me once again. But I do want to participate in iddyiddybangbang though. There is one draft that I think will be just long enough. Obviously it's still a while before that event, but since time is at a premium, I might as well start thinking about it now.

Most years, I have a spreadsheet that I use to keep track of my writing progress, but I think I will not do that this year. Given it's been several months of nothing, it seems a little silly to set a wordcount goal. Instead, I'll just try to finish one or two things. Keep it manageable and achievable, y'know.

Anyway, I'm glad that An Attempt Was Made. And the stuff I was working on was pretty good, too. Hooray.