Joely Sue Burkhart

Bizarre Ideas Abound

Quick, check the moon phase. I feel a crazy, manic period coming on. Is it a full moon? Or maybe just the fact that the monsters are going back to school this week?

I’ve watched a few shows that we normally don’t watch (That Man is God of the remote control, which is why I still haven’t seen all the Firefly episodes yet–but with MM sick all week, I caught a few surprises): a wildlife show on elephants, MM’s favorite animal (other than horses, of course); and Cities of the Underworld–Scotland’s Sin City.

What fascinated me about the latter show is how whiskey distilleries moved underground back in the 1700s because of heavy taxes and only like 7 licenced distilleries. Deep in caverns below Edinburgh, they brewed their whiskey with watchers keeping an eye out for taxmen. They devised ingenious ways of transporting their liquor–like caskets. The little tickler is how something so simple–like whiskey–was so important. How it shaped the culture and livelihood at that time. Makes for interesting worldbuilding questions, yes? Like Dune’s spice. Look how an entire galaxy empire was built around a need for spice. Cool stuff.

The elephant show just about made me bawl. It was a terrible drought in Kenya and a four-year-old baby died. Watching her mother try to get her up… They said a mother elephant was known to break her own tusks off trying to lift up her dead baby. All of the elephants stood around solemnly, sharing in her grief. They touched the dead baby, gently. The herd finally moved on, but the mother kept turning back, trying one last time to get her baby up. Then later, the nearly starved herd came across a skeleton, and the mother grieved all over again. She remembered her dead baby. All of the elephants picked up the bones, passing them back and forth, touching them, as if they recognized the dead elephant.

Don’t even ask me about two other shows we’ve started watching: Holmes on Homes and Ice Road Truckers. The latter show–OH. The sound the ice makes when they drive those huge semis across the frozen lakes…. How do they do it without having nightmares for months later? After watching Mike Holmes, how could anyone ever hire a contractor to work on their house?

There’s got to be a few story/worldbuilding ideas in there. So what new or odd thing triggered your inspiration lately?

This entry was posted on Tuesday, August 14th, 2007 at 6:00 am and is filed under Writing. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Both comments and pings are currently closed.

10 Responses to “Bizarre Ideas Abound”

Christine d'Abo Says:
August 14th, 2007 at 6:52 am
I love Mike Homes! Man, he has some pipes on him.

I’ve been watching a lot of sci-fi recently, which is good considering what I’m working on right now. It helps me focus on my world building and getting important elements out there.

And I could see a very cool story about those trucks and what could happen if they come across something in the ice…
Nancy Bond Says:
August 14th, 2007 at 7:51 am
A comment that Jodi DeLong left in yesterday’s Points to Ponder post gave me the shove I needed to pursue something I’ve let go of for some time now– years, in fact. Which is a worthy note–never underestimate how powerful a word of encouragement, or the sharing of an experience, or a simple kind word left in comments can be.

I’m glad MM is feeling better, finally! Mike Holmes is Canadian and I’ve watched the show for ages now…I love it when he exposes a dirty contractor. Did you see the finale of Hell’s Kitchen last night?

The elephant story is so sad–we watched something similar on meerkats and it just about broke my heart.
Ann Says:
August 14th, 2007 at 10:35 am
I think I’ve seen parts of the Cities of the Underworld about Scotland. The one about Paris was absoluting fascinating. All of the limestone used to build Paris came from beneath the city so about 150 years ago parts of the city started collapsing, that and they found the remains of a stone age village under Notre Dame. There are amazing things under Paris.
Anna Black Says:
August 14th, 2007 at 5:16 pm
I need to watch and read more stuff like that. I think one writer called it “priming the pump.” Filling up your unconscious with all kinds of seedlings that could sprout into something amazingly fun to write about.
Joely Says:
August 14th, 2007 at 6:04 pm
Christine, I really love Mike Holmes. What a great show! It always cracks me up how they have to get a few shots of him with the jackhammer though. *wink*

Nancy, absolutely. Nice comments always brighten my day–so thanks for stopping by!

Oh, Ann, I’d *love* to see that episode. I’ll have to keep an eye out for it!

Anna, it definitely primed my pump last night. I suddenly had an interesting thought on that one novella we’ve talked about…..
Travis Says:
August 14th, 2007 at 7:58 pm
Ice Road Truckers rocks!! Those guys are nuts to do that.

I love my cable!

Good luck with that manic burst - you might get a few thousand words out of it.
GutterBall Says:
August 15th, 2007 at 8:02 am
Ugh. I’ve been underinspired lately. However, I have started watching Don’t Forget the Lyrics!, mostly because of Wayne Brady. Love that guy.

I oughtta be on that show. Not inspiring, but they did use to call me The Teleprompter….
Krista Says:
August 15th, 2007 at 9:30 am
I watch a lot of shows on the History Channel and the Discovery Channel. My favorites have to do with ancient civilizations, especially the Egyptians. I actually keep notes while watching some of these shows…

My husband thinks I’m nuts.
Nicole Says:
August 15th, 2007 at 11:38 am
That elephant story just about broke my heart, reading about it on your blog. I can’t imagine what watching it would have been like. I’m sure I would have been bawling.
Gypsy Kitten Says:
August 16th, 2007 at 8:56 pm
Scarily enough, my biggest inspiration in the past week came while I was driving across town with my brother. Stuck in city traffic, with the radio playing nothing good. We ended up playing this CD that was in the car… some variation on the Beach Boy’s Greatest Hits. And so, in the midst of stopping for the umpteenth redlight (my redlight karma was not good that night), and listening to the Beach Boys, I look over and see this really nice looking Firebird in traffic and right behind it is a 60’s muscle car. Anyway, it jumped started my creativity. And I have the suspicion both of those cars are going to make a cameo in the novella I’m trying to write. I think they belong to the heroine and hero.

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Bizarre Ideas Abound

10 Responses to “Bizarre Ideas Abound”

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