> Recent Entries
> Archive
> Friends
> User Info
> Baralier's Den
> previous 40 entries

17th of May, 2008

09:50 am - The remakes just keep coming Long time readers of this journal will be aware of my dislike of the Hollywood penchant for remaking movies or TV series. Not because I dislike "reimaginings" or such, but mainly because of the piss-poor finished products that end up on the screen. Recent tragic remakes include, The Wicker Man, Bewitched, The Dukes of Hazzard, The Pink Panther, The Poseidon Adventure, Day of the Dead, Charlotte's Web, and Miami Vice. There's also an upcoming version of Get Smart due to hit the cinemas within months. Most recent note on the scary remake list is not David Hasslehoff's Knight Rider adaptation (who is now driving a Ford. 'nuff said) but a remake of 21 Jump Street. It's been confirmed that Jonah Hill of 40 Year Old Virgin, Knocked Up, Superbad, Evan Almighty, and Forgetting Sarah Marshall, will be writing and producing the new version of the story. No word on whether he'll be in it. I'm waiting to see whether it will be more Law & Order or more Police Academy. Lastly, the ever popular but usually flawed penchant for remaking British TV shows for the American market rears its ugly head again. This time it's ( Life on Mars ) I'll let you decided for yourselves whether this will be one of the few that manage to make the transition or not. EDIT: Apologies for the autoplay. I hadn't tested it before heading off to work this morning. Current Mood: busy Tags: tv

(17 comments | Leave a comment)

15th of May, 2008

12:24 am - Brains Performs Best When Hydrated Current Mood: amused Tags: geek, humour, tv, weird shit

(Leave a comment)

1st of May, 2008

(3 comments | Leave a comment)

25th of April, 2008

03:37 pm - Fan Wikis Wikipedia has been around for many years and the software it used has spawned many and varied encyclopaedic database offspring. Just an example of some of the stuff out there: Girl Genius Wiki - for all things relating to the Girl Genius webcomic. Memory Alpha - for all cannon Star Trek material Memory Beta - for Star Trek licenced spin off stuff like comics and novels. Star Trek: Expanded - Star Trek fan projects Futurepedia - The Back to the Future Wiki - Back to the Future Wiki Wookieepedia - Possibly the best known Star Wars wiki Star Wars Merchandise Wiki - A wiki for all the toys you used to have. One Wiki to Rule Them All - Yep, a Lord of the Rings wiki. Firefly and Serenity database - Joss Whedon's SF foray. Buffyverse Wiki - Joss Whedon's more famous effort. The Bionic Wiki - Watch as your wiki runs in slow motion (unless it's the movie with Sandra Bullock). The Lyorn Records - Wiki for Steven Brust's Dragaera novels. The Jaunting Pad - The Tomorrow People TV series. Chronicles of Astinus - Dragonlance wiki (still small). Uncyclopedia - Parody site ofr Wikipedia. Indiana Jones wiki - All about Dr. Jones. Muppet Wiki - Every Muppet you've ever heard of and then some. Doctor Who Wiki - Who?. Little House on the Prairie Wiki - I kid you not. And this is not including things like Astronomy wikis, History wikis and all the stuff about factual information. Boy there's some stuff out there. Current Mood: geeky Tags: books, computer, geek, movies, tv, weird shit

(2 comments | Leave a comment)

22nd of April, 2008

11:46 am - Pearls of the net There's a lot of chaff on the net but occasionally someone points you at some of the pearls. ceruleanst wrote a selection of pieces of William Shakespeare's screenplay for Pulp Fiction. This got metaquoted and Boing boinged. And as a result a Wiki has been set up for those who want to try and flesh out the rest of the screenplay at Pulb Bard. A lovely start to the morning :-) Current Mood: amused Tags: books, humour, movies, weird shit, writing

(Leave a comment)

18th of April, 2008

06:21 pm - Meme-while Haven't done a meme for a while, so here's one to make up for it. ( One word Meme ) Current Mood: blah Tags: quizes & memes

(3 comments | Leave a comment)

16th of April, 2008

07:01 pm - Ebay does WHAT?!?!? Just stumbled across this article about Ebay removing payment options for transactions as from 17th of June. All items appearing on eBay.com.au as of 17 June 2008 must be paid for using one of the following: 1. PayPal 2. Pay on pick up (i.e. paid for when picking up the item) 3. Visa/MasterCard (with transactions processed by PayPal). So no direct deposit, no cheques, no money orders and no non-Paypal credit transactions. The ACCC have begun investigations into whether this can be considered Trade Monopoly and have asked people for submissions. Ebay have effectively agreed that it is but have asked for an exemption under the auspices of them doing it for the safety of Australian Ebay users. Unsurprisingly, many Ebay users seem to think they are able to make up their own minds about what is best for them. And while I generally think online petitions aren't worth the paper they're written on I'm going to sign this one. Normally I don't spend much time on the Ebay forums, but they're awash with discussion too. Personally I use Paypal, but for local buyers I use Direct Deposit where available. I've been buying things online for over 10 years now. And I was buying things from overseas before I had a computer. They only time I've ever had a problem with losing money: Paypal. I'm hoping that the ACCC will be treating Ebay like the Microsoft of online Auctions. Then perhaps the choice of payment options will be retained. Ebay is already getting money from listing fess and a percentage of the sale price. They don't need more from handling the transaction as well. Edit: Apparently there was a story on this on A Current Affair tonight as well. The talking head from Ebay likened the introduction of Paypal to the introduction of the use of seat-belts in Australia (!) and someone has already come with this: Current Mood: annoyed Tags: computer, copyright & censorship, ebay

(12 comments | Leave a comment)

12th of April, 2008

11:41 pm - T-shirt supplies I've noticed that my t-shirt collection has been steady depleting over the years. Some of it the inevitable wear of t-shirts that end up looking like a pale grey rather than black, or the holes that appear in them, or the logo, slowly pealing away, or even worse, slowly shrinking in the wardrobe. Recently I've seen a few places that move beyond the usual "funny" t-shirt site to actually have some cool or witty t-shirts. Print Perfection's Retro Future Collection. I'm very much liking the Certifiable Mad Genius ("Better Living Through Merciless Extermination") Noisebot have some very nerdily funny t-shirts. Some of them are of the type that you might need to be in the know to get the joke, but that makes them funnier I think. Last Exit to Nowhere has a collection based on fictional places from the movies. Winchester Tavern t-shirt anyone? Though the Amity Island one would have been funnier if it was for the surf lifesaving club or something. Additional suggestions are most welcome. Current Mood: amused Tags: geek, humour

(6 comments | Leave a comment)

1st of April, 2008

10:32 pm - Lost Boys 2 How did I manage to miss this? Lost Boys: The Tribe For years there's been discussion about a sequel to The Lost Boys but it looks like they finally made it. View the trailer here. It could be up there with Terminator 2 as a sequel, or it could soon be sharing a shelf with Police Academy 7. Only time will tell. Current Mood: busy Tags: geek, movies

(7 comments | Leave a comment)

10:26 pm - Continuum 5! Hello and greetings from one of Co-Chairs for the next Continuum! Rachel and I would like to invite you along to a casual meeting to discuss ideas for Continuum 5. Sunday the 20th of April 10 - 12:30 (or there abouts) Carlton Library 667 Rathdowne St, North Carlton We're not going to shanghai you onto the committee (well not just yet anyway) but we're asking for people to come along who may be interested in helping out to varying degrees. You may be looking at taking an active hand, or maybe you can help out but not till next year. If you're interested in making a contribution we'd love to see you there. If you can't make it along on the day but are still interested in please drop me a email and I'll catch up with you soon. Hope to see you there. Current Mood: busy Tags: continuum

(8 comments | Leave a comment)

20th of March, 2008

12:43 am - It went for how much!!!! Holy crap! Just reading a report from The Register where a first edition copy of The Hobbit has sold at auction for £60,000. Yes kiddies, POUNDS! I remember MANY years ago in the late 80s when my girlfriend at the time had wanted to buy me a very special present I had jokingly said that a copy of the first edition of The Hobbit would be nice. I didn't get it but at that stage one could be had for $8,000 Aussie dollars. If only my own income kept up with that sort of inflation. Current Mood: shocked Tags: books, geek, weird shit

(Leave a comment)

12:09 am - Wikihistory "...everybody kills Hitler on their first trip." Found this story via the Girl Genius group, who found it via Boing Boing. http://www.abyssandapex.com/200710-wikihistory.html Very funny :-) Current Mood: amused Tags: geek, history, humour, weird shit

(1 comment | Leave a comment)

19th of March, 2008

01:24 pm - Valé Arthur C. Clarke Another SF legend goes into history. http://ap.google.com/article/ALeqM5jfE8qUikNEG6MVWqYku2k8BD_RcgD8VG4VI00 I think my first encounter with Clarke's work was the TV series Arthur C. Clarke's Mysterious World. It only added to my fascination with the odd, the strange and the "Fortean" (though I didn't know the word existed at the time). I've always felt that his SF was the sort that tried to keep within the possible. Sure he had weird technobabble in things but he never seemed to delve into the Space Opera style, or at least from what I read of his. He'll be sadly missed. He was a futurist who still seemed to be an optimist, and someone who understood technology, rather than just "making shit up". Current Mood: sad Tags: dead 'uns, geek, history

(Leave a comment)

13th of March, 2008

06:18 pm - Europe is a country? I joined in the derisive laughter at Miss Teen South Carolina who was asked, to be fair, a rather sucky question. However I think I'm quite justified at standing here dumbfounded over some of the answers this daft blonde comes up with when asked "Budapest the capitol of what European country?" Yes it's from the TV show Are you Smarter than a 5th Grader. Yes she's apparently a former contestant of American Idol. Yes she's living proof you don't need brains. "Is France a country?" Current Mood: stunned Tags: humour, weird shit

(9 comments | Leave a comment)

12th of March, 2008

11:43 am - "On the road again..." *Sighs* Last week I got a lovely little letter from my Real Estate agent informing me my Landlord was giving me notice. I have until the end of June to find a new place. Since Uni will be my main focus for the next few years I'm going to try and find something back over towards where I was living. Ironic no? It's a pity my cousin Ding is no longer alive. Not only would she have had room in her Research home, she was a former university lecturer on the History and Philosophy of Science. But I digress. The thought of packing *again* has filled me with some apprehension, but has also made me look at some of the crap I have been carting around: like the large quantity of records. Most are classical, with a fair selection of Soundtrack albums, and there's even an album from The Super Flying Fun Show which those of you old enough to remember it even existed will have probably forgotten about. So why is this an issue? Well apart from probably being unable to find a place this big that I could afford, for the entire time I've lived here the stereo has not been plugged in. So not having used it recent years, much less even assembled it in the last 12 months, it's obviously not something I need. So the stereo, the records, possibly some books, maybe even a cleanout of the costume wardrobe will become part of the move. Gods I hate moving. Current Mood: blah Tags: books, moving, uni

(11 comments | Leave a comment)

5th of March, 2008

03:09 pm - Valé Gary Gygax The man who not only invented Dungeons & Dragons, but by extrapolation the whole roleplaying hobby, passed away today a few months short of his 70th birthday. I got into roleplaying via my best friend in Highschool. We'd both been avid fantasy and SF readers and after a trip into the city he bough a copy of D&D. This would have been 1981 I think. From there we started a school group, which included getting permission from the Physics teacher to skip the school sports carnival and stay in the physics lab playing D&D for the day. The Phys Ed teacher was not impressed :-) The following year I attended my first roleplaying convention where I met some amazing people from a club called The Wizards' Council. This club formed the central part of my socialising for the next 15 or so years. While most of the people involved I've lost track of (though some have found me via Facebook) there are a few people who were really influential on me and that I still keep in contact. One of whom is the mother of one of my classmates at Uni. :-) And while Gygax was unashamed in being "influenced" by various fantasy elements to create his worlds, but also came up with some unique and lasting variants, such as Drow elves. I'm still peripherally interested in roleplaying, though I haven't done anything actively for many years. I doff my hat to a man who had an idea and virtually created an industry. Valé Current Mood: busy Tags: dead 'uns, gaming, geek

(9 comments | Leave a comment)

4th of March, 2008

12:12 am - The wonders of modern technology Last night I had a very late night, stumbling into bed around 4:00 AM this morning. The alarm went off at 8:30 to enable me to get up and be able to get to Uni for my 11:00 am History lecture. Feeling like complete crap I turned it off and reset it for 11:00 - time enough to arrive for the afternoon Tutorial. But thankfully due to the wonders of Teh Intarwebz, I am currently listening to the lecture I missed this morning. All is good in the world. Current Mood: working Tags: uni

(10 comments | Leave a comment)

26th of February, 2008

12:57 pm - First day back at Uni Number of lectures attended: 3 Number of Tutorials attended: 1 (everyone except history starts theirs next week) Number of text books acquired: 2 Number of best friend's daughters in the same class: 1 Amount of Pepsi Max consumed for the day: 2 litres Episodes of Time Team watched: 1 Number of stat decs written because other people are idiots: 1 Number of kilometres driven: 150 (approx) Amount of reading I am going to have to do: shiteloads I think I'm in a better headspace this year to be able to tackle Uni. Still, the reading material is going to be huge. 2nd hand text books will be my friends. Current Mood: determined Tags: non-virtual life, uni

(14 comments | Leave a comment)

22nd of January, 2008

01:45 am - Movies for 2008 I've been pondering the upcoming cinematic offerings for this year. Some have me very interested, some I couldn't give a rats about and others just scare me. ( The Good, the Bad and the Remakes ) Current Mood: discontent Tags: geek, movies

(20 comments | Leave a comment)

4th of December, 2007

11:57 pm - Christmas bland is here again. You may have heard about the prats in Sydney trying to school their Santas not to say Ho Ho Ho. My first reaction was one of just stunned silence. I thought they couldn't be serious. Then I realised this has probably come from a marketing exec in Sydney and yes they're probably that stupid. The whole idea of a world where you won't be offended is a utopian myth. I also think that if you were a woman and found the idea of Santa saying "Ho Ho Ho" was some sort of pejorative term implying you have sex for money then you've got far more problems than a fat bloke in a red suit asking if you've been good this year. Get the fuck over it! And while I'm on the subject, those Christian groups who want to see Santa removed from Christmas celebrations can bite me too. The Puritans tried banning Christmas celebrations as far back as the 17th century. People didn't think this was a Good thingTM (It may have had something to do with the forced closing of the pubs and the requirement of people to attend 3 hour sermons, but you never know). Also if you happen to be Islamic/Jewish/Wiccan/Whatever and a local Church has set up nativity scene on their lawn, just ignore it. If you complain that just gives them the right to turn around and complain when you have a Passover Festival or a Ramadan Fete or whatever. Seriously, just fuck off and die. Now I'm not Christian. Haven't been for decades. And I'll happily point out the pre-Christian origins of most of the major Christian festivals. However, if people want to celebrate their religion, as long as they're not telling me I'm some sort of evil incarnate, then fine. But I'm sick of people deciding that someone *might* be offended and thus preventing others from doing something enjoyable. Personally I don't think you have the RIGHT to go through life and not be offended. But I also think that you need to be grown up enough to respect that other people have different opinions and that you should accept that rather than crying to a government body asking them to put a stop to it. Don't want to put lights up on your house? Then don't. Don't bitch to the council about light pollution or some crap unless there's a spotlight being shone in your bedroom window. Don't want to take the kids to see Santa at the shopping centre because you want to teach them about the purity of your religion? Then don't. Though I'd guess with that sort of mentality you're living in a fenced compound and your kids are being home schooled anyway. Someone wishes you "Merry Christmas" and you're not a Christian? Just say "thank you". Or "Happy Chanuka". Don't start bitching about it or get all "offended". Think Santa is too fat and is setting a poor example of body image to our youth? Just fuck off. Yeah he's fat but he's probably one of the few people who hasn't developed some sort of neurosis about his looks. And you'd be a little on the heavy side if you ate all those cookies and milk and brandy. This time of year is supposed to be about good will to all. The irony of it is that some people are just looking for an excuse to take offence. I'm not prejudiced in my contempt - I hate the public equally. This has been a pre-Christmas rant brought to you by Official Old AgeTM EDIT: Santa sacked for saying Ho, Ho, Ho. Current Mood: cranky Tags: christmas, copyright & censorship, social definitions

(16 comments | Leave a comment)

14th of November, 2007

05:18 pm - Cars and the mechanics thereof Now I'll be one of the first to admit that my knowledge of cars is somewhat on a par with my mother's knowledge about computers. I know how to drive one, I know where the on button is, and I know that they need a checkup every now and again. Since Ember was in need of a service I asked my brother who he would recommend as a garage locally. He said he does his himself. Thus did I start on my way to performing my first car service. After assembling the assorted bits and pieces we changed the oil and filters, the air filter, flushed the radiator, changed the park plugs, and checked the brakes for wear. Now for some of my more petrol headed friends this may sound like rather simple stuff but to me it was a big step. I knew where to put the oil *in*, I've just never taken it out before. And while it doesn't save much from getting someone like Lubemobile to come round and do it for me, it means I'm getting better acquainted with how my car works. Current Mood: accomplished Tags: car, non-virtual life

(7 comments | Leave a comment)

13th of November, 2007

08:51 pm - Perfect arse? You'd think that a competition for something like that would have at least rated Philip Ruddock an notable mention. But no, when looking for the best arse, Sloggi underwear manufacturers were more interested in shape than in ethics. Who has the best bum? 19 year old Kristina Dimitrova from Bulgaria apparently. And it's just netted her €100,000 or €50,000 a cheek. I wonder if that would be considered resting on your laurels? Current Mood: amused Tags: art, history, humour, weird shit

(4 comments | Leave a comment)

08:03 pm - If you're thinking of a nice Christmas present... ...and have a few thousand to spare. http://cgi.ebay.com/WORLDS-RAREST-ASTRONOMICAL-CLOCK-FOR-PARTS-RESTORATION_W0QQitemZ110191844493QQihZ001QQcategoryZ63537QQssPageNameZWDVWQQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem Current Mood: hopeful Tags: geek, history, steampunk, weird shit

(Leave a comment)

24th of October, 2007

01:46 pm - Musical discoveries This week I had the pleasure of discovering the Palast Orchester. They're a German group lead by singer Max Raabe. While I suppose they're by definition a cover band, they're more of a niche than that. Singing modern songs in the style of the 1920s and 30s Comedian Harmonists they have a distinctive style to their music. I'm certainly going to try and track down more of their music. Wonderful stuff. Current Mood: calm

(1 comment | Leave a comment)

17th of October, 2007

07:47 pm - History repeating itself Some 12 years ago, when John Howard was leader of the opposition, he had this to say about then Prime Minister Paul Keating: "If ever a man has demonstrated before the national forum of the Australian people that he is arrogantly out of touch with how Australians feel it is the Prime Minister today. He has strutted this stage. He has behaved as though he presides like a triumphal successful emperor over the greatest economy that the world has ever seen. And yet the reality, Mr Speaker, is absolutely otherwise. And this kind of insufferable, conceited, arrogant out-of-touch attitude on the Prime Minister's part is not confined of course to the Prime Minister. It runs like a river of deceit right through the whole of the government." Little Johnny in full rant Ironic to say the least. I'll leave you a further pieces of irony. The Prime Miniature loves to go on about his economic management, but seems to conveniently forget that in 1983, on the eve of losing office to Bob Hawke, Howard as the Federal Treasurer had expertly managed the economy so that Australia then had -- 13.5% mortgage interest rates, 10% unemployment, 11.1% on inflation, and he left behind $9.6 billion as a budget deficit. Sadly this election seems to be about deciding whether we're going to elect a zebra that's white with black stripes or one that's black with white stripes. It's still a fucking zebra. Current Mood: cynical Tags: politics

(Leave a comment)

16th of October, 2007

03:06 pm - Doctor Who recommendations I have a friend who has been hearing more and more comments about Doctor Who. I've tried explaining a few things but I think I really need to point her at some episodes and say "Here, watch these." I'd like comments and suggestions about what episodes would be good to give a person unfamiliar with Doctor Who a better idea of what it's all about. I know there's 40 years worth of stuff to choose from but I don't want a week's worth of DVDs either. Ta Current Mood: geeky Tags: geek, tv

(11 comments | Leave a comment)

6th of October, 2007

(6 comments | Leave a comment)

11th of September, 2007

09:42 pm - Language barriers still a problem A few weeks ago I was listening to part of an interview with Rove McManus about appearing on television in the US. He commented that with the arrival of Simon Cowell on American television (the English Judge on American Idol), many US TV executives were congratulating themselves on their progressiveness at having someone with a *foreign accent* on National TV. Sadly though, it looks like many Americans still need interpreters for people who speak with accents. Sophie Reynolds, of Queanbeyan, was flying on a Skywest Airlines flight. After being told their were no pretzels aboard the flight she had the audacity to say "Fair Dinkum". Upon arrival in Pittsburgh she was met by three police officers and accused of swearing at the airline stewardess. I'm guessing the Stewardess doesn't deal with international visitors much. Here, here and here. Current Mood: cynical Tags: weird shit

(4 comments | Leave a comment)

27th of August, 2007

04:44 pm - Blonde American Miss Teen South Carolina was recently asked as part of a beauty pageant to answer the following question: Recent polls have shown a fifth of Americans can't locate the United States on a world map. Why do you think this is? Her answer is... enlightening. Current Mood: bitchy Tags: weird shit

(16 comments | Leave a comment)

16th of May, 2007

08:06 pm - Valé Cartaphillius cartaphillius you will be sadly missed my friend. Current Mood: sad Tags: dead 'uns

(6 comments | Leave a comment)

24th of March, 2007

06:08 am - Weird Al concert Actually participated in some social activity this evening. This was the second time "Weird Al" Yankovic has been to Australia. Sad to think the last one was three years ago! The night was fantastic though the hour delay on getting the show started due to a faulty media server was begrudgingly by the audience. Play list: Polkarama Canadian Idiot Close but No Cigar Bob It's All About The Pentiums You're Pitiful Wanna B UR Lovr Couch Potato Do I Creep You Out? I'm In Love with The Skipper Mmmm Mmmm (with lyrics redone to be about Britney Spears) Confessions Part III A Complicated song Ebay Bedrock Anthem Spiderman Pretty Fly For A Rabbi Trapped In The Drive-Thru Gump Eat It I'll Sue Ya The Saga Begins Yoda Weasle Stomping Day Smells Like Nirvana Amish Paradise Fat White & Nerdy With the encore being "We've All Got Cell Phones" (a reference to one of the earlier interviews) and Albuquerque. Not bad when your encore song is 11 minutes! With "Al TV" interviews featuring: Jessica Simpson Mariah Carey Celene Dion Eminem Mich Jagger Keith Richards Paul McCartney Kevin Federline (best interview to date) and others I was even able to stick around to get an autograph after the show this time. W00t!!!!! Current Mood: Stoked Tags: non-virtual life, socialising

(3 comments | Leave a comment)

5th of March, 2007

01:21 am - Long overdue update The first week of Uni is over and I'm already behind. There is a tonne of reading still to do. Thanks to my History stream shoving everything onto the Monday, and being able to make my Archaeology tutorial on the Wednesday I now only have to attend 3 days a week. And in a bizarre twist, thanks to German classes I'm also technically a student at Melbourne Uni. Which means more logins and forms and email addresses. The travel is a pain. It seems I need to allow a good 1.5 hours to get there. So for I've been late to 2 of my 3 German classes and this is only the first week. :-( Mondays history tutorial showed that the Universe is not going to let me forget how old I am. The first class was primarily a meet and greet the other members of the tute group. So we we partnered with the closest person and had to ask them questions about themselves and present this information to the group. I am the oldest person there. I've got three years on top of the Lecturer. The person I was partnered with? A girl straight out of High School who is due to turn 18 on Thursday. Yeah thanks. Ha Bloody Ha. Second life continues to suck lure me back. I've made some very nice friends there, a few of whom I've become quite close too already. A Canadian friend I've spoken too in real life while viewing her webcam via Skype. I don't have a webcam so she had to make to with stills :-) It's also an educational place, though not always for the better. One of my other friends is a full time "pixel mistress" or virtual escort. While this is still really a variant form of cybering it seems that if it's done well it would be quite a lot of fun. However, discussion arose on distinctions between Dom/Sub, B&D and S&M cultures which I had honestly thrown all into the same pot. I'm now learning there are differences and some people can get very shirty if you get them mixed up. Said pixel mistress is of the opinion that I would probably make a good Dom, though I admit to my scepticism. I've also discovered the term *Gorean*. It's apparently based on the John Norman Gor books (yes those rather tacky 70s testosterone filled fantasy novels) which put women on a par with a pair of boots. I find it distasteful. I can almost understand why some men (boys?) want the whole power trip thing. But I'm still not sure I understand the women who enjoy being a slave - even if only in a virtual world. Obviously it's a mindset. On the plus side other friends have put me in contact with friends of theirs. I've met a guy who for a living teaches 15th century cavalry to re-enactors. How green is this envy? We're also having the occasional history group discussion on and off. I've also been given the opportunity to DJ for one of the area's informal dances at some stage. All the various things are in place I just need to make sure the transmission will work. Must sleep. Procrastination is easy but rather detrimental. Current Mood: indescribable Tags: history, secondlife, uni

(6 comments | Leave a comment)

24th of February, 2007

04:37 am - The third item in the hunt for a steampunk computer Someone had taken a lot of time and care to put this together. But coupled with the modded tower, and the flatbed scanner from other people is close to completing the whole package. One day! Full details at Vonslatt. A real update real-soon-now. Current Mood: chipper Tags: computer, geek, steampunk

(9 comments | Leave a comment)

13th of February, 2007

10:14 pm - A Secondlife Funeral Most of you out there will have probably known of an internet friend who passes away. Someone whom you never met but who you spoke to, argued with, laughed with and generally had some form of conversation with. You may not have known them other than a name on a board or you have have shared things with them about your real life. And when that person is not longer there are postings and comments about them and how they'll be missed. I'd known a guy off the Serenity Oz boards who I knew simply as Choccy. I'd met him briefly when he cam down from Sydney once when a group fo the Browncoats got together for a drink. He died of cancer not long after and I believe there's still a dedication thread that has been "stickied" to the top of the discussion groups. But today was something very different. Today we learnt that the player behind the SecondLife avatar Shucks Valkyrie had died from a heart attack there was an impromptu memorial service held in the cemetery of the Tombstone, Arizona sim, his most recent place to be. I've never attended a virtual funeral service before. It was odd yet it worked. The sim manager said some words of remembrance and then someone started the words to Amazing Grace. Each line was delivered in chat, completely unprompted, yet there was no duplicating of lines as it was taken up by mourners. Someone even kicked in with a recorded audio version of it. I only met Shucks a handful of times but he was always having fun and making others laugh. He will be missed. Current Mood: sad Tags: secondlife

(4 comments | Leave a comment)

8th of February, 2007

03:44 am - Lap top needs As part of my new found OMG I'm Going To Uni I have realise that I'm going to need to get myself a laptop. Being the poverty stricken retch what I am I wondered if people might have suggestions for a laptop. Now I don't need one that has enough grunt to run Hand of Chaos with no lag or anything but I'd also like to get something that's been produced since Windows 98 was considered the thing to use. I don't have a price range as such but obviously the cheaper the better. Knowing that you can get brand spanking new ones for $1500 am I kidding myself if I'm looking at $400 or under? Do any of you have an old laptop sitting there, unloved that you would like to move on to a new home? Or know of anyone else? Or should I just bite the bullet and buy something new and shiny and due to be obsolete by the time it's out of the box? Current Mood: angsty Tags: computer, uni

(19 comments | Leave a comment)

3rd of February, 2007

12:10 am - Second Round Offer! Oh I and I've been offered a place at LaTrobe Uni. Now the debate about try to find somewhere closer vs somewhere I'm been offered a place in! Current Mood: awake Tags: non-virtual life, uni

(31 comments | Leave a comment)

2nd of February, 2007

11:22 pm - Eye candy for bar_bar_ella While hunting for reference pics for some texturing tonight I stumbled across these: Perfume: The Story of a Murderer I vaguely remember the book but I seem to have missed most of the prepublicity hype. Could be an intereting film. Current Mood: Interested Tags: costuming, movies

(11 comments | Leave a comment)

03:03 am - Image hunt I'm trying to find an image of one of the old fashion hands pointing. You know the sort I mean a hand shaped like a kid would make a finger-gun and with a jacket and shirt cuff visble. I've googled, I've hunted through my ornaments book for one to scan but no luck. I've seen some that are the modern equivalent like a cursor hand but I'm after the old Victorian style. Anyone seen one around? Ta. EDIT: Found one that's pretty close Current Mood: frustrated

(5 comments | Leave a comment)

31st of January, 2007

09:51 am - The Opti-Transcripticon Brass Goggles posted a link to Datamancer's Opti-Transcripticon What the hell is that you ask? No it's not a book, it's actually a flatbed scanner! More details and additional photos can be found here. Now if that was combined with the Telecalculograph I think we'd be on to a serious steampunk desktop. Just need a monitor mod now. Current Mood: impressed Tags: computer, geek, steampunk

(8 comments | Leave a comment)

09:24 am - l33t eyechart Someone's got a cool sense of humour Current Mood: amused Tags: geek, humour, secondlife

(6 comments | Leave a comment)