Labyrinth: A Jim Henson film

Damn! It's been a while since I saw this movie. I did not know that it was produced by George Lucas. Anyway, as I write this it is Saturday. And on this afternoon there's nothing good to see on TV; nothing to do also since it is hot outside. So I did what any logical person would do - watch a movie. 

Google image: Scene from Labyrinth - Jared and Sarah

I flipped through our selections of animations, sci-fi, chanbarra, Buster Keaton, Kurosawa, musicals, and I finally stumbled upon the movie Labyrinth, which was lying in our shelf for quite some time. I casually browsed through its features and selected the documentary about how the movie was made. It was amazing! 

Google image: Jim Henson (September 24, 1936 – May 16, 1990)

The last time I saw the documentary I felt like a child in a toy store, and when I saw it again I still do felt like a child in a toy store. Jim Henson was a genius when it comes to story telling. The film was released way back in 1986, and mind you they made the film before the computer generated effects (except of course the flying owl at the intro credits).

I hope that when they do a sequel of this movie, they will follow the style of Jim Henson. No fancy computer effects. They should use latex puppets, animatronics, choreographed actions (courtesy of Cheryl McFadden also known as Gates McFadden who played Dr. Beverly Crusher in Star Trek: The Next Generation). Hoping of course that David Bowie and Jennifer Connelly who played Jared the Goblin King and 16-year-old Sarah Williams respectively, will be there too to establish sense of continuation.

The soundtrack was great too, which were performed by David Bowie. I especially like the ballroom dance scene. Jennifer Connelly was stunning, and as a kid of '86 I had a crush on her then (ha ha ha).

More than 20 years had passed since then and it still brings out the kid in me. I believe that if Jim Henson is still alive today he will continue to give us stories of wonder and innocence - the things we lose along the way.

Tarot Cards As Writing Prompts

Writers are magicians....

Whenever I'm stuck or having a writer's block, I usually get my brain to jump start by using writing prompts. So, you might ask "what is a writing prompt?" They are usually a simple statement or a photo presented to the writer so as to get a general idea as to what to write about.

... they can write anything under the sun.

These writing prompts can come from various sources. One can get them from the pages of the magazine, a line from a book, something that was heard, or photos from the internet.  These are best when writing a personal essays. But what if you are stuck in the middle of a story? What if you want to create a short story and yet you do not know how to express your ideas in a coherent manner? As we all know, writers of stories are conjurers in their own right and having a writer's block is a death sentence to them.

Sometimes they are wise

Sometimes they are fools too.

This is where one can use the tarot cards for story telling. Yes, I think that they can be good writing prompts. Imagine with just only 56 cards with illustration and with each one has its own meaning both in normal and reversed position when put in a spread. You do not have to use it for divination, just simply know the meaning of each card and its location in the spread then you can have a story to tell to almost infinite possibilities.

Why not try using the tarot cards in this manner. There are websites who offers free software for download and there are those who provide information for free on how to use the cards.  Try reading the various types of card spread since each spread has its own purpose. Just keep your handy dandy notebook close by for notes.

A newbie's perspective on how to earn money through blogging

I am new to blogging and this I do not deny; however, I became even more interested to this exercise when I found out that I can earn some decent money from it. And there were those who really made a living out of blogging.

Like a diligent student, I researched on the art of blogging and boy it came as a surprise when I was bombarded by information from all sides! Now, my head is in a spin trying to sort out the data so as not to have an overload. I remembered a quote from Miyamoto Musashi's The Book of Five Rings (Go Rin No Sho) when he said "from one thing, know ten thousand things". Now, this does not mean that you will learn ten thousand things literally; it only meant that you will learn a lot of information if you want to engage in the enterprise not only on blogging but from anything. 

There are websites that offers tutorials and tips on how to write a blog which includes correct grammar, punctuations, composition, copywriting, layouting, traffic generation, sites where you can earn money from your blog, etc.

If you want to continue to pursue your blogging, I have provided the links that are very informative with regards to blog writing and earning from blogs. There are only four which I can provide for now, but I will add more as I research further.

Recommended Sites:

• 8 Habits of Highly Excellent Bloggers
• Why You Can't Make Money Blogging (Do not be fooled by the title!)
• 26 Sites That Pay You to Blog 
• Bukisa

Like what I have said, I am a newbie so I still have a long way to go before I reap the  fruits of my labor, but hopefully I will have my fruits. For now I'm just enjoying the experience of blogging.

If you like to add anything like tips, additional information, useful websites feel free to comment or email me so we can share it in the blogging community.

Thank you