| Passsing of a legend | |||
| 09:58pm 04/03/2008 | |||
|
Gary Gygax, creator of the groundbreaking RPG Dungeons and Dragons has passed away today. Whether or not you actually like the system, the man is responsible for opening the door for the entire gaming industry. Without him we wouldn't have any of the role playing systems we have now, Gary Gygax RIP July 27, 1938 – March 4, 2008 |
|||
| Post | |||
| Moby?? Really? | ||||
| 08:26am 21/01/2008 | ||||
 |
||||
| Read 2 - Post | ||||
wtf| more movies | |||
| 01:10am 26/12/2007 | |||
|
I watched a couple new movies this weekend. First up: I Heart Huckabees. This movies was excellent. Great dialog, fun quirky characters, bizarre surreal plot. Most of the acting was excellent too, especially Jason Schwartzman, who always does a fantastic job; as always, he pulls off that lovable loser you can't help but route for even with all his blaring character flaws. Jude Law as the slick shallow manipulative yuppie is also excellent. Tomlin and Hoffman play their characters straight with no sense of irony which makes the bizarre situation even more surreal and yet more believable at the same time. The weak part of the movie is Marky Mark (Mark Wahlberg) who does a passable job in his role, but, as always, never seems to breathe life into the character, though I still enjoyed the character, it simply could have been done better. The people who didn't like this movie (and some that did) took it too seriously, either they were disappointed that it wasn't more meaningful, they thought it tried to hard to BE meaningful, or they thought it was more meaningful than it is. Did I walk away inspired by this celluloid journey into the meaning of life? No, but I was greatly entertained. I didn't find it to be a great revelation (all the things the characters say and discover are things i thought of years ago), but a humorous look at not only the quest for meaning we all make and the futility of being too rigid in your thinking. It pokes fun at all sides of the coin, from hyper-consumerism to mindless idealism. If you are a fan of philosophy, be it (arguably) hope-filled Eastern thought or nihilistic Existentialism and all the points between, and you know people like the ones in this movie (and i think we all do, though of course they are exaggerated for purposes of humor) I think you'll love this film. Next up: Lost in Translation. This beautifully shot film explores the themes of isolation and how we all get lost somewhere along the journey of life. We get to see this from two very different points in the journey: the lack of direction experience at youth right at the beginning of the journey as we struggle to take that first step not knowing where we are meant to be; and later in life when we suddenly realize we don't know where we are going or how we got here, how life just sort of carried us here on sheer momentum and now we are left floundering with no idea where to go or how to get back what we seem to have lost. Through coincidence these two people who are both lost and isolated and stuck in an unfamiliar land and culture are drawn together by their mutual loneliness and displacement. Together they find they can be open and honest and connect in a way they can't with the people in their everyday lives. It's a beautiful, heart-warming and yet sad film. Visually stunning and poetically insightful, it captures both the internal space of the characters and the character of the city itself. The characters ring true and you get a real sense of how out of place they feel not only in their physical surrounding, but in their lives and of the budding connection forming between them. It is a subtle film that manages to invoke the almost surreal feeling of being someplace completely foreign as well as the deepest feelings of the characters without ever needing to spell them out blatantly, the emotions flow off the screen though the subtle, brilliant camera work, and the expressions of the actors. Third on the list is Adaptation which I did not particularly care for. I have liked previous films written by Charlie Kaufman and directed by Spike Jonze, but this one was not up to snuff really. It came off as self-indulgent and contrived and even though I got the sense that Kaufman was doing this ironically, a sort of jab at bad screen writing by using the elements of bad screen writing, rather than coming off as clever it just came off as.. well.. self-indulgent. It's an interesting idea, a movie adaptation that is about the process of making an adaptation rather than a direct adaptation of the source, it really doesn't work. The character version of Kaufman (he is writing about himself writing about himself writing a movie) is uninteresting and unappealing, even his fictional twin bother who is somewhat more endearing is also annoying. Nick Cage is not at his best here, though he is always uneven in his acting, and it is hard to tell how much of it is his performance and how much of it is the character. The character's depth of patheticness passes beyond the threshold of endearment and sympathy. While I can recognize the attempt of self-deprecating humor here, it doesn't work from a film-making perspective. Now there are some great performances and great characters: Chris Cooper is awesome and Meryl Streep is great as well. And Brian Cox was (as always) excellent in his rather brief role. Overall my impression is that I liked the concept of the film and I recognize what it was attempting to do, but as a viewing experience it was not that enjoyable. This film tries too hard to be clever and runs too long on a gimmick. I hate to keep reusing the phrase "self-indulgent" but that truly is the feeling I get from this movie, as if he were making the movie for himself rather than for an audience. The scenes that are actual adaptation are beautifully shot and acted, but the scenes about the adaptation process itself are mostly uninspired and boring, and let's face it, there are only so many scenes of Nick Cage whacking off that I can take. |
|||
| Post | |||
| Power to the people! | ||||
| 01:11am 15/12/2007 | ||||
Anyway, finally able to get my internet fix. In SR term I think i have the Matrix Addiction flaw at level 1, not hardcore, but enough to make it uncomfortable. Hopefully the rest of the region will be up and running soon. They had to temporarily transfer in several crews from out of state to get things running again. The whole region was hit hard by that storm. There were over 75,000 homes without power just in Kansas alone. |
||||
| Post | ||||
relieved| Winter | ||||
| 12:53pm 11/12/2007 | ||||
Other than that things are fine. Tomorrow (if i go to work) I get to find out how much of a raise I got. I am not terribly hopeful, but, again, we'll see. That's pretty much it for the update except to say that "Time Bandits" is a great movie and should be watched by all. Terry Gilliam is a trip. |
||||
| Post | ||||
cold| jsut because | ||||
| 01:37am 05/11/2007 | ||||
Nothing has been going on, so there is nothing to really post about. Just the usual. Watching movies, reading, going to work, sleeping. Nothing exciting at all. I will make a movie recommendation, though. "May" starring Angela Bettis and directed by Lucky McGee. Definitely worth watching. It's cute, funny, creepy and disturbing all in the same movie. Go rent it. Also been reading Marvel comics Civil War saga. Someone was kind enough to post the entire multi-title story arc in chronological order, It's been a long read. Parts of it are pretty good, some parts not so much. I'm not a big fan of superhero comics as a general rule, but this is an interesting take on it. It's a interesting take on the current trend of curtailing freedoms in the name of security. A metaphor for post-9/11 America. |
||||
| Post | ||||
bored| more writing | ||||
| 05:48am 17/09/2007 | ||||
She blocked out the impatient and nervous mutterings of her companions, lumbering oafs she only grudgingly accepted as necessary. What they lacked in stealth and finesse, they made up for in brute strength. After all, sometimes even one as skilled as she needed doors broken down and monsters slain. She ignored their please for haste, leaving them to do their jobs as she did hers. They stood encircling her, their swords drawn and ready, prepared to face whatever horrors still lay within those crumbling wall. She scanned the wavering script which seemed to hover just above the surface of the unbelievably old and yet still pristine vessel before her, the words' meaning slipping through her grasp the harder she tried to decipher them. She closed her eyes, took a deep breath and opened them again, this time keeping her mind loose and free, allowing her gaze to drift over the words, letting the meaning form in her mind of its own accord. Slowly the language coalesced in her mind and the meaning became clear. She muttered the counter-spell and the script faded away. Having cleared the first of the protections on the chest, she pulled the scroll from her satchel, along with the other items she and her companions had acquired. She studied the scroll for what might have been the hundredth time on this journey, knowing that to make a mistake now would mean the loss of a small fortune and likely the death of them all. When she was certain of what to do, she placed the scroll back in its protective tube and began the ritual. First she took the rod, the head piece of the staff that once served as the symbol of power for the long vanished family in who's tomb they now stood. She slid the rod into a slot on the side of the chest where it made an audible click as it settled into its proper place. Next she slid the enchanted silver ring onto her finger. In place of a jewel, the ring had a small spike set into a small shallow bowl. Into that indentation she places a few drops of blood from a tiny vial and spoke aloud. By the blood of the Family B'Hedron, give forth your secrets for we are in need. She then pressed the ring to the emblem on the front of the chest and turned her hand ever so slowly to the right. The family crest glowed red momentarily as the seal recognized the blood of the family that created it, taken from the last member of an ancient and noble line. An entirely unpleasant smile crept over her ashen face as whirs and clicks emanated from the chest as the last of its locks were set loose. The heavy lid slowly opened, hinges creaking with age and disuse and air that had been trapped for millennia burst forth in a sudden but short gasp. She called for a torch and as one of her companions brought the torch closer, its light was cast into the now inert magical container. Firelight reflected off untarnished steel and danced in her crimson eyes. The lout holding the torch gasped at the sight of the delicately crafted and ornately decorated blade and moved to pick it up. She grabbed his wrist. Fool! Only the one who bears the ring may wield the blade. The warrior jerked his arm back quickly, shock and fear flashed briefly in his eyes before before being replaced by anger at having shown weakness in front of her. He regained his composure and returned to his post. She pulled a large cloth from her satchel and began to wrap the sword in it. She bound it tightly with leather thongs and formed a strap that could be carried over the shoulder. They had what they came for, it was time to leave. Before she could move to take point for the journey out, the young foolish warrior who had tried to grab the sword walked toward the door, crossing the ancient family seal laid out in fresco on the floor. She tried to stop him, but she heard a faint click and then the faraway sound of moving gears and sliding stone. And a distant roar. Fools. Incompetent fools, she muttered, and prepared for battle. |
||||
| Post | ||||
creative| 11:12am 14/09/2007 | |||
|
The night seems to close around him, the darkness suffocating as it pushes hard against light around him. It feels as though the world outside the small yellow glow of the streetlight is trying to collapse around him, threatening to crush the tiny bubble of light and him with it. The dense fog muffles the distant sounds of the city, heightening the sense of isolation. He might as well be the only person in existence. It is easy to forget where he is and just how dangerous it is to be alone and exposed in this particular neighborhood. His contact is late and he can feel the chemical calm of his last spike beginning to fade. He takes a final drag off his cigarette before dropping it to the shattered street amidst its fallen brethren and shakily pulling another from a nearly empty pack. He light the fresh smoke and takes a drag before flexing his hands nervously trying to stem the tide of the approaching crash. He again fights the urge tough the jacket pocket that holds the money for the transaction, knowing that to do so will be a beacon to any of the denizens of that dark abyss outside his island of light: Easy target, mug me. A figure moves into the circle, seeming to form out of nothingness. His hand moves toward the gun hidden beneath the jacket, sudden fear prompting adrenaline to momentarily push aside the come down. Before his hand can reach the firearm he recognizes his contact and the fear is replaced by a mixture of relief, desperation and anger. The contact is wearing that smile, that used car salesman smile that makes his skin crawl and he wonders, not for the first time, what foul deeds have been done under the shine of that dubious grin. He addresses the newcomer more brusquely than he intends, the rapid dissipation of the chemicals in his system eating away at his capacity for civility. He allows himself, reluctantly, to be calmed, his need outweighing his desire to choke the life out this condescending shit stain standing before him. The deal is made and his perfidious acquaintance evaporates into that impenetrable darkness from whence he emerged. He looks down at the small hypos in his tremoring hand and a slow sick smile of depraved need slides over his face, even as the beads of sweat begin to slowly make their way down the back of his neck. Hugging his arms tightly around himself, he casts a few nervous glances and, forging his way into that dark abyss, heads toward home. |
|||
| Read 2 - Post | |||
| free thought | ||||
| 12:36pm 13/09/2007 | ||||
--H.L. Mencken Smart Set Magazine Dec. 1919 |
||||
| Read 2 - Post | ||||
| slow death | |||
| 07:19am 09/09/2007 | |||
| living here is making me brain dead, i think. i used to think about shit, i used to come up with story ideas, i used to philosophize, i used to think about the world around me. but as the days go by in this mental wasteland that is the midwest, i find my thinking less and less about anything. then again, i'm also tired most of the time which doesn't help when it comes to the mental faculties. i need a change of scenery. something needs to change, cos this rut i am in is getting old and deep very quickly. | |||
| Read 50 - Post | |||
| Takes all kinds | |||
| 02:08am 09/09/2007 | |||
| There are 11 kinds of people: those who can count in binary and those that can't. | |||
| Post | |||
| the majority is not always right | ||||
| 11:42am 05/09/2007 | ||||
The bulk of society in the United States suffers under the delusion that since we have the right to vote we are a free society. This is, quite frankly, a load of steaming bullshit, to put it eloquently. Even if you ignore the fact that the system is broken to the point where individual votes hardly matter at all, special interest groups have more impact on public policy than the will of the people, anyone outside one of the two major parties has no chance of winning, and the popular media has reduced political debate to catch phrases and talking points, oppression is still taking place. Even if the system worked perfectly and every voice was heard, the will of the minority is being subverted by that of the majority. It still comes down to "might makes right" with the side with the most numbers being able to push its will on the other. Simply having more people agreeing with you does not make you correct. The list of social injustices perpetrated by the majority, even in the so-called "Land of the Free," is far too long to enumerate. The political officials in the country must realize that their primary responsibility is to ensure and maintain the values on which the nation were founded: freedom and equality, no matter what the majority may want. A responsible politician must lead from those two principles, no matter what other personal beliefs he or she might have and no matter what the majority opinion might be. After all, it was not so long ago that the majority believed that it was okay to own another person as property and that women should not be allowed to vote. Remember that while true freedom can never be fully realized within the constraints of government control, we should always strive to do so as best we can. As long as we are forced to be a part of this society, it is the responsibility of those in authority to ensure equal treatment for all. |
||||
| Post | ||||
contemplative| Reznor | ||||
| 12:39pm 20/08/2007 | ||||
perfect little dream the kind that hurts the most forgot how it feels well almost no one to blame always the same open my eyes wake up in flames |
||||
| Post | ||||
| Stardust | |||
| 09:07am 18/08/2007 | |||
|
I watched Stardust last night before work. Shitty theatre, but that is beside the point. I will just make sure never to go to that one again. The movie was pretty good. They changed some stuff from the book, as is to be expected. They added a couple characters, trimmed out a few scenes and altered the events to makes the separate story lines converge. They also altered the ending. The changes worked, though they changed the tone of the tale a bit. You didn't get quite the same grasp of the characters that you did in the book and the tone of the film is much lighter than the book. Gaiman isn't exactly known for his happy endings. I can understand why they would change the ending. While I preferred the book ending, I don't think it would have gone over quite as well with the general movie audience. Over all the performances were really good. Deniro was over-the-top, as was intended, and while it was fun to see him act against type, I don't think it fit the tone of the story at all. Pfeiffer was decent, though she didn't really present as much menace as she could have, there is more to making a threatening character than relying on makeup effects. Claire Danes was nice, though the movie could have done of better job of showing the character's transformation over the course of the story. I chalk that up more to scripting than to her performance, a result of having to streamline the story. Charlie Cox does a great job as Tristan, playing him as the kind, if a bit naive and single-minded, boy who evolves into a brave and self-sacrificing man. Sienna Miller, sadly, is rather forgettable as Victoria. She doesn't do a bad job, but neither does she bring anything noteworthy to the role. Over all it was a decent movie, however I think a lot of the nuances are lost in the translation from novel to screenplay. I understand why they made the film the way they did, but it still felt off. The original novel is much darker and more adult oriented than the film was. The story was meant to be a fairy tale for adults, and instead we get the same old thing. As a stand alone entity the movie works, in a passable predictable Hollywood way, but as an adaptation it is a pale comparison, it is trimmed, lighten and dumbed-down to make it more palpable to the general audience. If you want light romantic fantasy adventure, with a touch of gallows humor, go for it. However, I recommend the book more. Oh, and Peter O'Toole is awesome. But then, when isn't he? |
|||
| Post | |||
| weighing costs | |||
| 02:05am 12/08/2007 | |||
|
In any agenda, political or otherwise, there is a cost to be borne. Always ask what it is, and who will be paying. If you don't, then the agenda makers will pick up the perfume of your silence like swamp panthers on the scent of blood, and the next thing you know, the person expected to bear the cost will be you. And you may not have what it takes to pay. --QUELLIST FALCONER Things I Should Have Learned by Now Volume II |
|||
| Post | |||
| poly-entendre | ||||
| 01:49pm 09/08/2007 | ||||
Rereading old QC comics is fun. Jeph really does have an excellent grasp of language, relationships, snark, and music nerdery. The ridiculousness of the conversations in that comic remind me of conversations with my friends in college. |
||||
| Read 6 - Post | ||||
| depression, romance, and emotionally distant cynicism | ||||
| 11:57am 27/07/2007 | ||||
I have romantic traits, though I keep them buried beneath a thick layer of cynicism and emotional distance. I don't emote particularly strongly, I tend to bury my feelings. Romantic stories tend to affect me the same whether they are tragic or comedic. The tragic ones make me sad because they remind me of my own pain and cement the idea that everything eventually leads to getting hurt, even if both people love each other and stay together, eventually death will take them away. Comedic endings, where it all ends on an up note and they walk off together happy and in-love make me sad cause they remind me that I am alone and have been for a long time and in all likelihood will continue to be. So I don't particularly like being a romantic. I generally try to avoid and bury those aspects of myself. Suppression as a cure for depression. In all honesty, I am a coward. I fear the pain, the loss, the rejection. Mostly the loss. I want to feel safe. I want someone I can share things with. I want someone with whom I feel comfortable. I want to be able to enjoy things with someone, everyday things like watching a movie or just sharing a couch. But on the other hand, I don't to have to depend on anyone. When you invest yourself in someone like that, when you allow yourself to be that vulnerable and rely on them for comfort and safety, it can all be taken away. They can leave or die or just let you down. The problem is, life isn't like those comedic endings. those stories don't show you what happens three months or three years down the line. They don't show how life slowly eats away the couple, turning them into hollow shells of their former selves. In the end, life is a Shakespearean tragedy: no one gets out alive. Part of me says that since we all die anyway, we should try to get as much out of it as we can. If sharing your life with another person can bring you joy, even for a moment, then your life has been enriched. While another part of me says the the eventual fallout and lifetime of pain that follows once moment of joy has passed outweighs the momentary bliss. Then there is the part of me that wonders, with good reason: what do I have to offer another human being? A fallen romantic who, nursing the wounds of the disparity between his ideals and their attainability, is cynical, pessimistic, and acerbic. I hide in my world of movies and books and music, walling myself off from the world around me. It is moderately safe in here, but it is lonely. Loneliness is its own brand of pain, but it can be kept at bay with sufficient distraction, until the themes in those distractions once again crack the wall around the romantic portion of me which necessitated the distractions in the first place. aaaaannnnyway. enough mindless rambling for one lifetime... |
||||
| Read 2 - Post | ||||
| Random Internet find #358 - Poe's Law | |||
| 11:37am 27/07/2007 | |||
|
"Without a winking smiley or other blatant display of humor, it is impossible to create a parody of Fundamentalism that SOMEONE won't mistake for the real thing." In other words, No matter how bizarre, outrageous, or just plain idiotic a parody of a Fundamentalist may seem, there will always be someone who cannot tell that it is a parody, having seen similar REAL ideas from real religious/political Fundamentalists. |
|||
| Post | |||
| up and running | ||||
| 10:51pm 15/07/2007 | ||||
and now... i need to get some fucking sleep. god damned computers... :) |
||||
| Post | ||||
sleepy| Power to the people | |||
| 03:49am 10/06/2007 | |||
|
The power went out around 11:30 pm, not just in my house but the entire town. I stayed up for a bit, ate some pizza, drank a little, read by flashlight then laid back down. About 2:00 the power came back on for 5 minutes then went out again. Finally, about 2:30 it came back and stayed on. Fucking bizarre |
|||
| Read 2 - Post | |||
| self-improvement | |||
| 12:09pm 11/05/2007 | |||
|
I've been attempting to get into a exercise routine and diet. Today I worked out 15 minutes on the Total Gym and 30 minutes on the stationary bike. The diet is going to be the hard part. When I lived on my own it was easier, since I could control what kind of food was around. But when there is tasty food in the house, it's hard not to eat it, even if it is unhealthy. |
|||
| Read 4 - Post | |||
| a thought.. | ||||
| 09:07am 16/03/2007 | ||||
Oh well, it's just a movie. |
||||
| Read 2 - Post | ||||
| Not a Socialist, A socially-minded anarchist | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 10:44pm 09/03/2007 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
The Everything TestThere are many different types of tests on the internet today. Personality tests, purity tests, stereotype tests, political tests. But now, there is one test to rule them all.Traditionally, online tests would ask certain questions about your musical tastes or clothing for a stereotype, your experiences for a purity test, or deep questions for a personality test.We're turning that upside down - all the questions affect all the results, and we've got some innovative results too! Enjoy :-)
TAKE THE TEST brought to you by thatsurveysite |
||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Post | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| lines, new toys, and human stupidity | ||||
| 05:20pm 24/11/2006 | ||||
That experience taught me very little, but it did reinforce my already firmly held belief that waiting in line for more that three hours for anything. is not worth it. Especially when they don't even have the courtesy to make porta-potties available. Luckily I have the innate male biological advantage of being able to urinate pretty much anywhere, all it takes is some shadows and someone to watch your stuff and hold your place in line. However, the happy (dubiously) ending to the story is that I am now the proud, if considerably less well off, financially, of a 42" flat screen HDTV and a Sony surround sound system. And we had Krispy Kreme after, which makes nearly any situation brighter. The moral of the story is this: though you may get a good deal, it's worth a few extra bucks to not have to wait in line like an idiot for hours/days. PS - Now I have to wait until we get back home before I can start playing with my new toys. :( |
||||
| Post | ||||
| Casino Royale | |||
| 10:58am 22/11/2006 | |||
|
I actually liked it. Which says a lot since I am not the biggest fan of James Bond in general. The movie actually stand well on its own, outside of being a James Bond film. It is quite different from most Bond films, much more low-key in many ways, more realistic, less over the top while still having the action we expect for a bond film. THere are some cute little nudges to fans of the franchise that supply a little humor. Over all it is a much darker film than any of the previous Bond movies with little to no camp. Very fine acting all around, living up to what I have grown to expect from the actors' previous work. Daniel Craig, the Dame Judy Dench, and Eva Green all perform exquisitely playing characters that never become parodies of themselves and come off as real people rather than cardboard cut-outs. Nuanced performaces that do as much with what is not said as they do with the dialog itself. Gone are the gadgets, cars with rocket launchers and pens that contain high explosives. Also the fight scenes are much more brutal in this one. Bond is no longer the unstoppable and unscathed superman of previous installments. Overall I enjoyed it. At a running time of two and a half hours, it does go a bit long and takes a while to get to a conclusion that you know is coming, but in spite of some drag time, the ride to that conclusion is an enjoyable one. |
|||
| Post | |||
| Two words...and a number. | ||||
| 10:58am 14/11/2006 | ||||
'nuff said. *disappears* |
||||
| Read 2 - Post | ||||
entertained| money | ||||
| 08:58am 20/09/2006 | ||||
Now I just need more vacation time. |
||||
| Read 2 - Post | ||||
| Celebrity look-alikes | |||
| 02:49pm 28/08/2006 | |||
| ( Read more... ) | |||
| Post | |||
| 11:25am 29/07/2006 | ||||
( Bring the noise ) |
||||
| Post | ||||
okay| Tacoma | |||
| 10:41pm 26/07/2006 | |||
| I finally got a call back from Mlgard. It was really late when they called, so I am not sure how coherent I was. The guy who called did tell me about pay, finally, and i wasn't very impressed. He said starting pay is $10-12, which not that spectacular. I already make $11 here. Given that they expect operators to be able to tear down and set up their own machines, unlike at CPI, I would most likely be starting at the lower end of the pay spectrum. It looks like I may have to forgo this offer and see what else I can find. | |||
| Post | |||
|
vexgodglove |
||
|
Friends Info Calendar |
||
| skip | ||
| Backward | ||