B to the B to the F @btothebtothef - Tumblr Blog

http://btothef.tumblr.com/day/2012/02/20

You know when you start a project, and you know it’s dumb, but you keep at it anyway? Because you’ve got so invested that it would seem weak to back down at this point?

Or you know when you’ve started a blog to comment on a blog that was mostly written around four years ago? And nobody ever asked for your commentary or cares about it once it’s written?

Or how you keep telling yourself it’s all great writing experience but you know deep down that you should be spending your time honing your skills on something more relevant and useful instead?

OH ME NEITHER LOL. HERE’S MORE WORDS.

Ryan starts off with a bit of fact-checking about Gipe’s quote about Christmas being two months away. This is great! This is the kind of blogging we like to see. Proper investigative work. Actual insights. Not just mindless ramblings. Ahem.

Ryan criticises Gipe’s use of an animal metaphor, like some kind of critical moose. But yeah, it is pretty clunky. Like an overweight elephant.

And I guess this is the point in the book that we’re introduced to Biff and George McFly. I think Ryan should have made more of a song and dance about that, maybe putting in a gif or something. But he does at least look over their introductions in the text, which is something. Nice sick burn of Sears too. (I guess it SEARED?? yknow like searing something by burning it).

At the end, Ryan asks us to email [email protected] which I’m pretty sure is not a real email address. But I’ll go ahead anyway!

Poor show, Ryan! Making an actual email alias for this joke would have been hella rad. Jokes with a four-year setoff/payoff lagtime are the raddest.

#rad payoffs #biff #bttf #george mcfly #sears

http://btothef.tumblr.com/day/2012/02/20

This post is half quote from the book, half commentary. Let’s start with the quote!

“Flashing lights are seldom the harbingers of joy, except at Christmas, and that holiday was two months away.”

Yup, standard Gipe. Weird and wacky. “The harbingers of joy” is a horrible, clunky phrase for a fun science fiction novel. And Ryan is right to criticise this for essentially relying on a logical deduction to introduce the scene.

But can we do better? Let’s!

Ryan arrived home to confusion. There were lights everywhere, like at Christmas. But it was only October! This could only mean one thing: those weren’t Christmas lights.

Ok, maybe it’s harder than that. Maybe the scene just sucks in general.

#bttf #xmas light #quotes #harbingers of joy

http://btothef.tumblr.com/day/2012/02/18

Here Ryan just reblogs some minimalist film posters for BTTF.

I guess I’m ok with this, it’s BTTF-related after all. But c’mon man, get on with the book already! Some of us are trying to page-by-page review your blog. We’re not made of reviews!

Fun game! At the end of the blog post, Ryan posts a link to this artist’s page: http://vondell-swain.tumblr.com/

Since Ryan posted it, this artist has changed his URL a very large number of times. BUT, like a good egg, he’s left a trail of breadcrumbs by which you can eventually reach his current page. Give it a go and see how you get on.

Anyway, in the spirit of Ryan, I’ve searched the #BTTF tumblr tag to see what treasures we can find. And so I present to you a British motorway / BTTF meme:

(via @raisedbydruidsandhorses)

Well, ain’t that something.

See ya on the next time!

#bttf #minimalist #memes #m1 still has fucking road works

Ryan just reblogs a gif from another tumblr here. So I’ll just do the same:

Also, I think I missed Back To The Future Day. Oops.

Well, it’ll come around next year. By which time we might actually have reached a point where Marty is back in time. Man, I suck at this.

#bttf #clockblock #richard is not good at blogs #or hashtags

http://btothef.tumblr.com/day/2012/02/17

So this is a book-only scene involving Doc talking about himself. Ryan spends some time complaining that this can be a mark of poor writing; self-exposition by characters is a clunky way of introducing their backstory.

I’m Richard Cook and I write too many blogs! This is probably my stupidest one yet, and there’s almost no chance I’ll ever actually finish it. Keep reading though, this post might just be a little bit good! - Me, talking about myself in this post.

But I say that then when your character is a WACKY PROFESSOR this is entirely legitimate.

Gipe lists some of the wacky experiments Doc had been working on before. The best of these is “the notion that gold could be mined by superheating the earth’s surface” - which Ryan rightly identifies as not being possible in science. It’s pretty hilarious though, the idea that Doc is after huge amounts of gold for some reason.

Ryan then criticises Doc’s (Gipe’s) use of an orange skin as a metaphor for time travel. I agree with this, because WHAT THE HELL GIPE? TIME TRAVEL IS NOTHING LIKE AN ORANGE SKIN. Those things are not comparable on any level.

The pages end with Doc looking out and his DeLorean and saying some things. Ryan then composes a poem in his honour.

So in honour of THAT, here’s a poem from me:

Ryan North, reviewing Gipe

Finding gripes, like an orange that’s ripe

Crazy old Gipe, with terrible metaphors

Thinking that gold can be mined, with the correct temperature [pronounced temp-er-at-or]

#bttf #orange skin #doc #poetry

http://btothef.tumblr.com/day/2012/02/16

Well this is just a pic of Doc. Let’s bring up the whole post anyway.

(3 years ago... wow).

So this is another one of Ryan’s joke one-line image posts. He’s contrasting Doc’s appearance in the film with Gipe’s description of him in the book.

But it doesn’t quite work, right? I mean, there’s no reason that talented inventors can’t look wacky. Einstein looked wacky!

So I dunno what Ryan is going for. I guess it’s just a joke at Christopher Lloyd’s expense.

#bttf #christopher llyod #there he is

http://btothef.tumblr.com/post/17713176900/chapter-2-page-25 It’s a paragraph-by-paragraph new chapter review guys! This is gonna be great. Plus, it’s the chapter where Ryan finally meets Doc! So double great. Great squared. Great to the max. Greaty-eight giggawatts!!!

Ryan contrasts the way you’d expect Doc to be introduced with how Gipe does it. And of course it’s a wacky-old-man thing. Gipe self-insertion perhaps? Ryan also employs a “....ladies” joke here, which I think has kinda been done to death. But here’s it still funny. Good one, Ryan!

Ryan North..... ladies.

In the next bit Ryan invents a character called Surfer George Gipe. Sadly I don’t think Surfer George Gipe makes another appearance in Ryan’s review of BTTF, but I think he should. He’s the ultimate comic figure. The ultimate contrast of cool and uncool.

Then Ryan gets a bit carried away with Gipe’s preoccupation with “quotation marks”. Yeah it’s pretty wacky, but that’s just Gipe’s style I guess. Or “style”.

Ryan then compares Movie Doc with Book Doc in terms of character motivation. There’s a distinct difference going on that Ryan is correct to pick up on. Book Doc seems to be of the ‘revenge scientist’ type. Clearly, Movie “I love science!” Doc is superior.

And no, not in that facebook-page-with-misattributed-science-quotes-over-pictures-of-space “I love science!” kind of way...

Ryan then tries to apply D&D-style alignments to Movie Doc and Book Doc. That’s fair enough as an exercise, but what of RYAN HIMSELF huh?

His tendency to do silly things but in a generally light-hearted way places him firmly in the Chaotic Good category! I guess that’s why he identifies so much with Movie Doc.

Coming up next.... MORE DOC!

#bttf #doc #chaotic good #quotation mark

http://btothef.tumblr.com/post/17661511267/here-on-page-21-clock-tower-lady-and-book-marty

No MAKEOUTS here. Just clock tower restoration fundraising shenanigans. But maybe you’re into clock tower restoration fundraising shenanigans too? I don’t know - I won’t judge you either way.

Ryan is critical of the fact that so long is spent establishing this whole will Marty give to the woman or not thing, when there’s no payoff later. I suppose this is a fair point but I don’t mind it. There’s this thing called WORLD BUILDING in stories where you just chuck in stuff that doesn’t necessary go anywhere but gives a sense of the broader context. Maybe that’s what Gipe is doing here?

Ryan uses “PRO TIP” in this post too, which I love.

PRO TIP: Use PRO TIP all the time. It is like my favourite writing device.

There’s a good case of Book Marty being the typical jerk he is and wanting to dump a load of the lady’s fliers. I think we can all agree that we need more Book Marty.

Then Marty and Jennifer run off and KISSING HAPPENS. Psyche! Totally tricked you up at the top there. Sorry.

Anyway Jennifer has go soon after this and there’s some fumbling around with the fliers still. (GUYS IS IT FLIERS OR FLYERS I DONT KNOW). It’s not all that interesting.

But what IS interesting is that this means we’ve reached the end of the first chapter! Yay! And it only took... forever?

Let’s do this again soon!

#clock tower shenanigans #fliers #flyers

http://btothef.tumblr.com/post/17610844002/pages-19-20

This starts with Marty just chatting about MAKEOUTS. Which is a great word and isn’t used enough. So I’m using it here as well: MAKEOUTS. As in the plural of MAKEOUT. Please help me out by also using today in some context.

There then apparently follows a real clunky conversation about the differences between 1950s and 1980s Hill Valley, because wow Gipe sure is bad at exposition haha. Ryan suggests it’s written in basically a way that nobody would ever talk ever and I have to agree. But it’s classic Gipe! He’s basically talking exactly like he - an old man - does, but in the voice of teens. So it’s ok.

Again, Marty is made out (MADE OUT!) to be a real non-classy guy as he looks on with “revulsion” at some lady’s upper lip hair. Wow Ryan’s really got it in for Book Marty!

Let’s not forget that Book Marty was the original Marty. Sure, Movie Marty is smarter, more believable, and altogether more likeable - but he’s not original! He’s the clone, the sequel, the mark two. Let’s not forget that.

In a very real sense, this proto-Marty (pulled direct from early forms of the film’s scripts, not just out of Gipe’s dusty ol’ mind buckets, remember) is essential to our understanding and appreciation of the Marty we end up with.

IN CONCLUSION: DON’T HATE THE PLAYER, HATE THE GAME. AND ALSO LOVE BOOK MARTY.

#bttf #makeouts #marty

http://btothef.tumblr.com/day/2012/02/14

Hey!

Ryan goes off-book again here, to talk about some comic his brother wrote. C’MON DUDE WE TALKED ABOUT THIS

Ah, well, I can’t stay mad at him I guess. I haven’t actually ever checked out said comic, but I assume it’s hella rad. Hell, I didn’t even know Ryan had a brother until just now actually. I assume he is also hella rad.

I’ll end by simply saying that I like the fact that Ryan included “nipples” as one of the tags on this post, for no discernible reason whatsoever. I shall do the same.

#bttf #nipples #hella rad

http://btothef.tumblr.com/day/2012/02/13

THAT’S RIGHT BABY, WE’RE STILL GOING.

So the bit of the book today that Ryan’s writing about Gipe writing about is the whole band audition bit at the beginning.

In short, the way the book covers it all is all well and good. But the film just does it better. Bad lines are replaced with better ones, or simply cut.

I think it’s really funny that Ryan compares the tight scene where Marty talks about his mother to the pages and pages this apparently covers in the book. A perfect example of the book just DOING IT WRONG. Here’s a sample (from the mouth of Jennifer):

"Well, they say all our emotional anxieties come directly from our parents," she smiled. The words coming out of her mouth sounded a bit strange even to her. Where had she heard the phrase? Sociology class? People magazine? She wasn’t sure, but it sounded plausible.

WHAT A FLAWLESS EXAMPLE OF WRITING.

There’s a lols-worthy moment where Marty tries out some one-liners about car dealerships. But I’ll leave Ryan to soak in the glory of that one.

There’s some lovely foreshadowing at the end from Ryan as to what’s coming next. Although Ryan’s version at foreshadowing basically comes down to PS THIS IS WHAT HAPPENS, STAY TUNED - which I really do admire.

More prose should be written with direct shout-outs to the reader. It reminds me of Dinosaur Comic 383 where T-Rex attempts to write a ghost story that talks to the reader, reminding them how spooky all the ghostly happenings haha. Classic Ryan.

OK READER YOU HAVE NOW REACHED THE END OF TODAY’S POST. PLEASE COME BACK WHENEVER I DO A NEW ONE FOR MORE OF THE SAME, PRETTY MUCH.

ALSO IF YOU COULD SHARE THIS ON THE INTERNET OR SOMETHING THAT WOULD BE GREAT. WRITING FOR 7 PEOPLE IS FUN BUT NOT REALLY.

#bttf #writing #foreshadowing #CAPS

http://btothef.tumblr.com/day/2012/02/12

In today’s post Ryan doesn’t even talk about the book at all! He just posts a cool factoid-picture pointing out that the DeLorean has bits in it of every time it’s been in.

YEAH COOL RYAN. MAKE WITH THE FUNNY WORDS NOW PLEASE

To be fair, he does apologise for it:

IT’S THE WEEKEND, WE CAN TALK ABOUT NON-BOOK STUFF MAYBE IF WE’RE LUCKY

But I’m afraid the answer is no. We can’t talk about non-book stuff. Talking about book stuff is the entire point of this whole thing we’re doing.

So talk about some book stuff please?

#bttf #book stuff #is factoid even a word though

http://btothef.tumblr.com/post/17375158174/page-16

So Marty makes his escape from detention and we as readers make our escape from Strickland. We don’t get to do it by stealing borrowing some kid’s skateboard, but hey at least the NIGHTMARE IS OVER.

Ryan subtly links to a Sweet Bro & Hella Jeff comic, which is a totally rad thing to do. I assume you probably know what Homestuck is, but if you don’t - go and read it (all!) now?

This is followed by another comparison of Movie Marty vs. Book Marty. Ryan notes that Movie Marty is pretty much a skateboard whizz. But Book Marty sucks pretty damn hard. Interesting character analysis!

Anyway Marty eventually gets to band practice and Jennifer is there and makes some kind of noise. The end.

Hurray for the plot actually progressing! It’s really liberating to be writing about Ryan writing about someone that isn’t Strickland.

RIP STRICKLAND?!

#bttf #homestuck #skateboard whizz

http://btothef.tumblr.com/post/17319973021/pages-13-15

Ryan begins by discussing the plural of Walkman. He concludes that it's Walkmen, obviously. Research suggests that this is actually wrong, and the correct plural is Walkman Personal Stereos because HA HA THAT IS SO MUCH EASIER TO SAY.

Ryan then sets a little task for the reader. We're asked to imagine how Marty might engineer himself a way out of his detention. As readers, let's engage brains!

So I guess he'd probably want to cause some sort of distraction? We know Stricklands a stickler for rules and things, so maybe Marty could point out some kind of rule-breaking going on outside. That doesn't seem beyond the realm of Gipe-ness, though it is isn't very wacky. Maybe he could say it in a wacky voice, or do some lame attempt at throwing his voice ventriloquist-style.

But of course NOPE. It's super weird.

Ryan lays this all out in the style of a 8-bit CHOOSE YOUR OWN ADVENTURE (later becoming Ryan's style of choice in TBONTB). Anyway, it all bolls down to Marty setting a fire through a series of improbably events. Typical Gipe fare.

Ryan then curiously awards himself 1.21 out of a possible 1.21 points! That's odd, as it wasn't so long ago that we were criticising him exactly for not using this system. Coincidence, or WACKY TIME TRAVEL SHENANIGANS?

You reader, can decide for yourself.

#bttf #walkman personal stereos #wacky time travel shenanigans

http://btothef.tumblr.com/post/17267194762/pages-11-12

So it looks like my last few posts got lost in some kind of time vortex???? Also, I totally forgot to write them! Oh well.

Ok, so today's bit kicks off with you guessed it... Strickland.

There's some boring classroom description from Gipe, followed by an EXQUISITE paragraph in which Strickland crushes a Walkman in a vice. Because that's a thing teachers were allowed to do in the 80s? Just like destroy property? Expensive electronic equipment type property?

Ryan doesn't seem to get very tangled up in this oddity though (his love for Strickland blinding his vision). Instead he just loves the phrase

With gleeful deliberation, Strickland continued the crunching orgy

Because yeah ok that is pretty special! And that's it!

Wow, not much happens in the book then I guess. That was really two whole pages? Either Ryan is missing out lots of CRUCIAL INFO, or the book is just as badly written as we all think it is.

Sloppy critical Northian analysis, or sloppy writing? ONLY TIME (!!) WILL TELL

Coming up next: More Strickland, probably.

#bttf #strickland #property destruction

OK NOW I AM LITERALLY BEING TAUNTED BY TUMBLR ITSELF

whaattttttt

#bttf #strickland #watches

http://btothef.tumblr.com/post/17211192829/page-10

Ok, so there's Strickland in today's post as well. But I can't just keep ignoring Ryan's writing. So HERE WE GO AGAIN.

This is mostly just a recap of an altercation between Marty and Strickland. As usual, Marty is being all cool and 80s and Strickland is being all hard and discpline-y. And Ryan is being totally in love.

Ryan asks if he can say "dickweed" on tumblr. Like him I have also not thoroughly researched this topic. But it looks like got away with it. So once again: dickweed.

Ryan laughs at Gipe's use of the word RHEUMY. And rightfully so, it's hella weird.

And he also employs an interesting rating system in this post. He gives the movie exchange (between Marty and Strickland) FIVE OUT OF FIVE GIGAWATTS and the book exchange zero. But I have to fault Ryan here.

Why is the gigawatt rating system out of five? Surely it should be 1.21? The joke of the second one being zero would still work! Oh well.

And THAT'S ALL I GOT

#bttf #dickweed #gigawatts

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