I finished "Beholder's Eye" by Julie E Czerneda a week or so back.
I don't quite feel right reviewing this book. I don't know if it's all the oak pollen in the air or the book itself, but I just haven't felt like reading anything too heavy lately. This book just wasn't holding my attention. But then, a few other books I've picked up lately haven't either. Comic books and cartoon books, sure. That's light and easy and not at all taxing.
So, yes, this book. Sci-fi, of course. The central character is the youngest of a species that lives for thousands of years. It's only 300 years old or so. This species exists in an energy state and can share mass and memories. They take a physical form and go to a planet to learn about them. Once they completely understand a being they can take its form. They do this so that the culture and knowledge of a people can last long past when a culture self destructs or is destroyed.
This central character is off on her first mission. She's supposed to watch the people of a rather primitive people for 10 years. She's taken on a form similar to a dog to do this. It's actually an intelligent species that looks doglike except for fingers instead of pads on the paws. She finds out about some invaders and tags along with some military personnel going to deal with it. The invader turns out to be a first contact team from a large federation of planets. In fact, it's the third first contact team. The first two were never heard from again.
Things happen, and the central character manages to save the crew of the ship and get a ride off planet. She gets home and is in big trouble for letting her true identity get discovered.
She's sent back out with a new mission known only to her and the eldest of her people. A creature from a distant galaxy has arrived and is killing and destroying intelligent life. Her job is to gather information and return. Naturally, the mission parameters shift a bit.
The people of the federation have some idea what she is and assume that she's the threat destroying colonies and outposts along the rim. The creature finds out about her people and comes for them.
The book is good. It is. It tells the story well. It establishes the friendship between her and a human that becomes a regular companion through the rest of the story. It covers the adventures she has before the main storyline really gets going.
No science to speak of. Fantasy would be a better description.
My only complaint is that it took me so long to finish because I just couldn't pay attention. And I don't know if it was the writing or the pollen.
Tuesday, May 06, 2008
Monday, May 05, 2008
Movie review: Iron Man
Holy crap! A summer blockbuster that actually lives up to the hype.
First, a brief history of the Iron Man movie as seen by the public.
When they first said they were making an Iron Man movie I didn't expect much. Batman, Superman, Spiderman, Hulk, these are the first string heroes. They're who movie makers start with. If you do well with them, and those movies were pretty hit and miss, then you start trying to make money from the second stringers and even third stringers. Ok, some would argue Iron Man is a first stringer, but this is his first movie so he's a second stringer. Most geeks heard about Iron Man and expected a disaster. But we thought the same thing about Lord of the Rings.
Then they announced that Robert Downey Jr would be playing Tony Stark (the man inside the suit). Suddenly there was hope. The studio was a bit scared of RDj but the geeks knew he was the right man for the job. They're both wealthy, arrogant, womanizing, alcoholics. It's a perfect match.
Then we got the screen shots of the outfit. We were blown away. They got the look right and some great actors.
But it could all still go wrong. The more hype there was the more we dreaded. But we lived in hope. This could still rock.
And it did. Oh, this movie rocked so hard. I'm not a big reader of Iron Man so I can't really compare to the comics. Mostly I know of Iron Man from his recent role in superhero registration and firing The Hulk off to a distant planet. He's a genius who works with Reed Richards of the Fantastic Four a lot. He has a history of alcohol abuse.
What really struck me about this movie is the lack of a villain. There's bad guys, sure, but no classic villain. Tony Stark is his own worst enemy.
The movie starts with Tony returning from a weapons demonstration in a Humvee convoy. Terrorists attack and capture him. They keep the PG13 rating by keeping out the blood, but the blasts and the holes getting ripped in the Humvee and the soldiers dropping left and right were realistic and shocking enough that I might have upped it to R. Tony gets captured and taken to a cave where the terrorists want him to assemble on of his missile launchers for them.
So the weapons he designed and his company built to protect American soldiers is in the hands of terrorists and is why he's been kidnapped.
Flashback a day and a half. We see how much of a playboy, smart ass, care for nothing, party animal he really is. Then back to the cave where Tony has built a mini-reactor to power the electro magnet that is keeping metal fragments from penetrating his heart. Then he builds a prototype power suit that has to be navigated more by counting steps than seeing where he's going. But it still kills a lot of terrorists, sets a lot of stuff on fire, and flies a short distance. But it crashes in the desert and he leaves it behind.
Back home he tries to shut down the weapons division until he can figure out how to make better use of his money and company. He retreats into his lab and starts work on his new suit. This covers a lot of movie but you find you don't really mind. It's just fun to watch Stark interact with his robots and play with his new suit.
Meanwhile, the terrorists have found his old suit. Once more, Tony's creation is falling into the hands of bad people. But when he goes to deal with them in person it's a cake walk. Bip bop boop, done. But still quite entertaining.
The movie comes together at the end with him facing a giant, amped up version of his first suit.
Iron Man is all about cleaning up Tony Starks messes.
The whole thing sets up for a couple of sequels, a spin-off or three, and a crossover.
Really, this takes the best of Batman and Superman with the light heartedness of Spiderman or Mr. and Mrs. Smith.
It may not have the wide appeal that Batman Begins had but it's right up there.
Go see it. Go sit through the credits. Go get it on DVD.
First, a brief history of the Iron Man movie as seen by the public.
When they first said they were making an Iron Man movie I didn't expect much. Batman, Superman, Spiderman, Hulk, these are the first string heroes. They're who movie makers start with. If you do well with them, and those movies were pretty hit and miss, then you start trying to make money from the second stringers and even third stringers. Ok, some would argue Iron Man is a first stringer, but this is his first movie so he's a second stringer. Most geeks heard about Iron Man and expected a disaster. But we thought the same thing about Lord of the Rings.
Then they announced that Robert Downey Jr would be playing Tony Stark (the man inside the suit). Suddenly there was hope. The studio was a bit scared of RDj but the geeks knew he was the right man for the job. They're both wealthy, arrogant, womanizing, alcoholics. It's a perfect match.
Then we got the screen shots of the outfit. We were blown away. They got the look right and some great actors.
But it could all still go wrong. The more hype there was the more we dreaded. But we lived in hope. This could still rock.
And it did. Oh, this movie rocked so hard. I'm not a big reader of Iron Man so I can't really compare to the comics. Mostly I know of Iron Man from his recent role in superhero registration and firing The Hulk off to a distant planet. He's a genius who works with Reed Richards of the Fantastic Four a lot. He has a history of alcohol abuse.
What really struck me about this movie is the lack of a villain. There's bad guys, sure, but no classic villain. Tony Stark is his own worst enemy.
The movie starts with Tony returning from a weapons demonstration in a Humvee convoy. Terrorists attack and capture him. They keep the PG13 rating by keeping out the blood, but the blasts and the holes getting ripped in the Humvee and the soldiers dropping left and right were realistic and shocking enough that I might have upped it to R. Tony gets captured and taken to a cave where the terrorists want him to assemble on of his missile launchers for them.
So the weapons he designed and his company built to protect American soldiers is in the hands of terrorists and is why he's been kidnapped.
Flashback a day and a half. We see how much of a playboy, smart ass, care for nothing, party animal he really is. Then back to the cave where Tony has built a mini-reactor to power the electro magnet that is keeping metal fragments from penetrating his heart. Then he builds a prototype power suit that has to be navigated more by counting steps than seeing where he's going. But it still kills a lot of terrorists, sets a lot of stuff on fire, and flies a short distance. But it crashes in the desert and he leaves it behind.
Back home he tries to shut down the weapons division until he can figure out how to make better use of his money and company. He retreats into his lab and starts work on his new suit. This covers a lot of movie but you find you don't really mind. It's just fun to watch Stark interact with his robots and play with his new suit.
Meanwhile, the terrorists have found his old suit. Once more, Tony's creation is falling into the hands of bad people. But when he goes to deal with them in person it's a cake walk. Bip bop boop, done. But still quite entertaining.
The movie comes together at the end with him facing a giant, amped up version of his first suit.
Iron Man is all about cleaning up Tony Starks messes.
The whole thing sets up for a couple of sequels, a spin-off or three, and a crossover.
Really, this takes the best of Batman and Superman with the light heartedness of Spiderman or Mr. and Mrs. Smith.
It may not have the wide appeal that Batman Begins had but it's right up there.
Go see it. Go sit through the credits. Go get it on DVD.
Friday, May 02, 2008
Terry Pratchett
Recently the author Terry Pratchett, author of the Discworld series, was diagnosed with a form of Alzheimer's. I don't know what makes his unique, but he says that if you have to have Alzheimer's then this is the kind to have.
He recently gave $1,000,000 for research into a cure. When giving the money he also gave a speech. You can hear it below.
part 1
part 2
He recently gave $1,000,000 for research into a cure. When giving the money he also gave a speech. You can hear it below.
part 1
part 2
Thursday, May 01, 2008
Bond Martini
I've been reading some old Ian Flemming James Bond books. Some are spot on for the movies and some are WAY off. James doesn't show up in "The Spy Who Loved Me" until near the end.
In "Casino Royale" Bond orders his classic martini. Alas, I didn't bookmark the page so I can't find it again easily. But that's what Google is for. Alas, 50-some years have passed since that book was written. Formulas have changed. You can't make the same martini. But there are some substitutions that can get you close.
Follow the link and I'll let this person explain.
http://bartendersbaby.wordpress.com/2007/10/16/the-real-james-bond-martini/
In "Casino Royale" Bond orders his classic martini. Alas, I didn't bookmark the page so I can't find it again easily. But that's what Google is for. Alas, 50-some years have passed since that book was written. Formulas have changed. You can't make the same martini. But there are some substitutions that can get you close.
Follow the link and I'll let this person explain.
http://bartendersbaby.wordpress.com/2007/10/16/the-real-james-bond-martini/
Wednesday, April 30, 2008
Game review: Sly Cooper and the Thievius Raccoonus
Video games. It takes a very special game for me to pay full price for it. This wasn't one of them. With the PS3 out the PS2 game prices are falling. Especially the ones that are 6 years old already. I picked up "Sly Cooper" for only $9.99. Not a bad price. I think I did slightly better than the $1 per hour that I expect from a game. Too bad the price had to come down so far to get to that point. But I was only really playing to finish the game and write the review.
The most interesting part of this game was what they did with the graphics. Sure, lots of games lately are playing up the cartoonish angle. This one does it by giving the characters and much of the scenery dark edges like a drawn cartoon would. Makes me wish I had more experience in 3D modeling so I knew how they pulled that off in a dynamically rendered scene.
The game itself is the standard run along and collect all the [ITEMS] in the level so you can get the [BONUS]. Along the way you beat up the [VILLAINS] until you reach the [BOSS] at the end of the level. Still, it's more engaging than some games.
Completely safe for kids to play. The worst that happens when you die is that you get set back a little bit. Not a great deal of frustration. The game is very solvable.
I'll loan it to the neighbor kids who will enjoy it a lot more than me.
The most interesting part of this game was what they did with the graphics. Sure, lots of games lately are playing up the cartoonish angle. This one does it by giving the characters and much of the scenery dark edges like a drawn cartoon would. Makes me wish I had more experience in 3D modeling so I knew how they pulled that off in a dynamically rendered scene.
The game itself is the standard run along and collect all the [ITEMS] in the level so you can get the [BONUS]. Along the way you beat up the [VILLAINS] until you reach the [BOSS] at the end of the level. Still, it's more engaging than some games.
Completely safe for kids to play. The worst that happens when you die is that you get set back a little bit. Not a great deal of frustration. The game is very solvable.
I'll loan it to the neighbor kids who will enjoy it a lot more than me.
Tuesday, April 29, 2008
Gas tax
I'm gonna skip this post ahead of several others because it's more time sensitive.
Way back in college I was advocating some new gas taxes because, quite frankly, you people aren't gonna cut back on your driving or invest in more fuel efficient vehicles unless you get stabbed in the wallet. And now the gas prices are climbing on their own.
Now McCain is pushing for the temporary lifting of the federal gas taxes (18.4¢ on gasoline, 24.4¢ on diesel) between Labor Day and Memorial Day. Since Obama is taking the opposite position Hillary is siding with McCain.
If that doesn't define this election I don't know what does. Obama is trying to do the right thing and Hillary is trying to do whatever it takes to win votes. Or you can be really cynical and say Obama is trying to win liberal votes while Hillary is trying to win more moderate votes.
But lets see what else is in the news.
GM Cuts Jobs amid Slow Truck, SUV Sales
GM is cutting SUV and truck production at 4 plants. They already made 100,000 SUVs less than expected due to a strike at one of their suppliers plants and much of their remaining inventory is going unsold.
GM will be cutting truck and SUV production by 138,000 (88,000 full-size pickups, 50,000 SUVs).
THANK YOU $120/gal oil prices!!!
Rising gas prices work. This is what must be done.
I thought by now that everyone would have had a chance to poke around inside a Prius. DC is littered with the damn things. But when I rented one and drove it back to Wichita for Thanksgiving it was a great point of interest since many hadn't seen one before. I drove around my grandparents and let other members of my family take it for a spin. Grandma wound up buying one herself. She immediately hated it since it wasn't the same make and model of the last 4 cars she's owned. But just meant Mom inherited a practically new, fully loaded Prius that she's practically giddy about.
Of course, the rising gas prices also effects the truckers. And by extension it impacts the price of milk, fruit... well, everything really. So I would approve of lifting the tax not on diesel, but on truckers and farmers. Yes, that means practically lifting the tax on diesel. But there's still buses, most of which are converting to hybrid and liquid natural gas anyway. Gotta keep encouraging that. And there's still small diesel vehicles who'll still have to pay.
We still need to find a way to move from semis for shipping or change what the semis run on. Higher gas prices should help with that. I can afford to pay more for food. Many of my neighbors will not.
Here's more reasons to oppose the gas tax moratorium. Used without permission from Bird Brains: Comics and Commentary.
1. The Highway Trust Fund, which funds highway infrastructure, would lose revenue. Americans apparently have short memories; the I-35W bridge collapse was less than a year ago, but the concern for the state of our bridges and highways that it created seems to have been short-lived.
2. The proposal is unlikely to pass Congress. The states would stand to lose Highway Trust Fund revenue. Representatives from large states with lots of highway miles will oppose it.
3. There's no guarantee the pump price will go down. Oil companies might just end up absorbing the extra profit. We don't have much excess refining capacity in the U.S. The lower price would create additional demand, as people drove more; this would likely cause prices to go up again as more demand chased the same supply of fuel.
4. It will worsen global warming. Lower prices, if they do appear, will discourage conservation and raise carbon emissions.
5. It will discourage the development of alternative fuels. Part of the reason investment in alternative fuels has been slow to appear is because many investors lost their shirts in the 1990s, when oil prices suddenly tanked. High gasoline prices mean these alternatives can compete. If there's uncertainty that prices will stay high, investors will be scared off.
Way back in college I was advocating some new gas taxes because, quite frankly, you people aren't gonna cut back on your driving or invest in more fuel efficient vehicles unless you get stabbed in the wallet. And now the gas prices are climbing on their own.
Now McCain is pushing for the temporary lifting of the federal gas taxes (18.4¢ on gasoline, 24.4¢ on diesel) between Labor Day and Memorial Day. Since Obama is taking the opposite position Hillary is siding with McCain.
If that doesn't define this election I don't know what does. Obama is trying to do the right thing and Hillary is trying to do whatever it takes to win votes. Or you can be really cynical and say Obama is trying to win liberal votes while Hillary is trying to win more moderate votes.
But lets see what else is in the news.
GM Cuts Jobs amid Slow Truck, SUV Sales
GM is cutting SUV and truck production at 4 plants. They already made 100,000 SUVs less than expected due to a strike at one of their suppliers plants and much of their remaining inventory is going unsold.
GM will be cutting truck and SUV production by 138,000 (88,000 full-size pickups, 50,000 SUVs).
THANK YOU $120/gal oil prices!!!
Rising gas prices work. This is what must be done.
I thought by now that everyone would have had a chance to poke around inside a Prius. DC is littered with the damn things. But when I rented one and drove it back to Wichita for Thanksgiving it was a great point of interest since many hadn't seen one before. I drove around my grandparents and let other members of my family take it for a spin. Grandma wound up buying one herself. She immediately hated it since it wasn't the same make and model of the last 4 cars she's owned. But just meant Mom inherited a practically new, fully loaded Prius that she's practically giddy about.
Of course, the rising gas prices also effects the truckers. And by extension it impacts the price of milk, fruit... well, everything really. So I would approve of lifting the tax not on diesel, but on truckers and farmers. Yes, that means practically lifting the tax on diesel. But there's still buses, most of which are converting to hybrid and liquid natural gas anyway. Gotta keep encouraging that. And there's still small diesel vehicles who'll still have to pay.
We still need to find a way to move from semis for shipping or change what the semis run on. Higher gas prices should help with that. I can afford to pay more for food. Many of my neighbors will not.
Here's more reasons to oppose the gas tax moratorium. Used without permission from Bird Brains: Comics and Commentary.
1. The Highway Trust Fund, which funds highway infrastructure, would lose revenue. Americans apparently have short memories; the I-35W bridge collapse was less than a year ago, but the concern for the state of our bridges and highways that it created seems to have been short-lived.
2. The proposal is unlikely to pass Congress. The states would stand to lose Highway Trust Fund revenue. Representatives from large states with lots of highway miles will oppose it.
3. There's no guarantee the pump price will go down. Oil companies might just end up absorbing the extra profit. We don't have much excess refining capacity in the U.S. The lower price would create additional demand, as people drove more; this would likely cause prices to go up again as more demand chased the same supply of fuel.
4. It will worsen global warming. Lower prices, if they do appear, will discourage conservation and raise carbon emissions.
5. It will discourage the development of alternative fuels. Part of the reason investment in alternative fuels has been slow to appear is because many investors lost their shirts in the 1990s, when oil prices suddenly tanked. High gasoline prices mean these alternatives can compete. If there's uncertainty that prices will stay high, investors will be scared off.
Monday, April 28, 2008
Kindle
I hate Amazon.com.
The way I see it, every dollar I spend is a vote for this company or that company. If I don't like the way a company operates I don't vote for them.
I don't vote for Walmart because they actively send jobs to China. I don't mean that's an end result of their business practices. They tell the companies they buy from to move production to China.
I don't vote for Amazon.com because they make patenting things they didn't create and are in widespread use a standard business practice. Best known is their attempt to patent one-click ordering a decade or more back. They didn't create it and they didn't popularize it. It was the dawn of the internet so it wasn't terribly widespread. They did it to try to kill competition from Barnes and Noble and others. The founder and CEO of Amazon.com says it's immoral and should be illegal, but since it's not illegal he'll keep using it. So I take my business elsewhere.
That's why I'll never buy a Kindle. But I'm still impressed with the technology.
I've been watching the development of this electronic ink technology for years. A regular display uses power as long as it's on. But an electronic ink display only uses a burst of power when the display is changing. In the case of the Kindle it's when you "turn" the page but the suggested apps I usually see are on billboards and even paint for cars and buildings.
While I keep a few books on my PalmPilot the display suffers from glare when I try to read outside. That's the biggest advantage I see on the Kindle. There is no more glare than you'd get with a paper book.
I'm not gonna go on about the formatting of the documents or methods for downloading them or the services they provide or any of that. If you care that's available elsewhere. The only reason I'd get a Kindle is because I think the display is neat. But not neat enough for me to vote for Amazon.com. I'm sure the tech will appear plenty of other places soon enough.
The way I see it, every dollar I spend is a vote for this company or that company. If I don't like the way a company operates I don't vote for them.
I don't vote for Walmart because they actively send jobs to China. I don't mean that's an end result of their business practices. They tell the companies they buy from to move production to China.
I don't vote for Amazon.com because they make patenting things they didn't create and are in widespread use a standard business practice. Best known is their attempt to patent one-click ordering a decade or more back. They didn't create it and they didn't popularize it. It was the dawn of the internet so it wasn't terribly widespread. They did it to try to kill competition from Barnes and Noble and others. The founder and CEO of Amazon.com says it's immoral and should be illegal, but since it's not illegal he'll keep using it. So I take my business elsewhere.
That's why I'll never buy a Kindle. But I'm still impressed with the technology.
I've been watching the development of this electronic ink technology for years. A regular display uses power as long as it's on. But an electronic ink display only uses a burst of power when the display is changing. In the case of the Kindle it's when you "turn" the page but the suggested apps I usually see are on billboards and even paint for cars and buildings.
While I keep a few books on my PalmPilot the display suffers from glare when I try to read outside. That's the biggest advantage I see on the Kindle. There is no more glare than you'd get with a paper book.
I'm not gonna go on about the formatting of the documents or methods for downloading them or the services they provide or any of that. If you care that's available elsewhere. The only reason I'd get a Kindle is because I think the display is neat. But not neat enough for me to vote for Amazon.com. I'm sure the tech will appear plenty of other places soon enough.
Friday, April 25, 2008
DC's TARDISes... TARDISii... um.
See these things in the picture? You see them scattered all over Washington DC and a number of other cities. They were installed shortly after the Civil War.
Some were fire boxes. There was a mechanism sort of like a music box inside. You smacked a button, tripped the release, a spring started to unwind turning a cylinder with pins on it, the pins made contact with metal strips completing a circuit, this sent a signal to the fire station who came to put out the fire. Each booth had a unique ID that was what the pins on the cylinder sent to the fire station.
Some were Police Boxes. They had telephones inside so that police could report in and people could call for help. They had rings on them so you could handcuff perps to it until the padded wagon came along to take them away. With the advent of personal radios in the 1970's these booths were taken out of service.
The Brits picked up on our Police Boxes and started to develop their own. Instead of phones on posts they made little prisons with a phone on the front. The best known model of these was made of concrete, formed on the spot, and weighed 3 tons. They were also the basis for the time machine used in the BBC television show "Doctor Who". These booths were still common enough when the show started in 1963 but were on the way out. The pilot episode had it parked in a dump.
There are still a few of these left around the greater London area. Like this one outside Earls Court tube station. They remain not because they're useful but because Doctor Who made them popular enough that tourists and locals alike object to their removal.
Thursday, April 24, 2008
The Return of Dean Kamen
Dean Kamen is the man. Mostly he invents medical technology. He invented a portable kidney dialysis machine. He invented Dick Cheney's pace maker. He invented a self balancing electric wheelchair that will raise up on two wheels so the rider can look the non-handicapped in the eye. He took that technology and created the Segway which I ride to work almost every day. And for the last several years he, or at least his lab, has been working on a revision of the vapor compression distiller.
From the reports that I've heard he's been trying to make a vapor compression distiller, which is already super efficient, and make it so it can run on almost any energy source. Gas, electric, sun, or wood. The generator would be a Sterling Engine which uses a thermal difference to run. The point being that they can be distributed in third world countries so that everyone can have clean water to drink.
Recently Dean Kamen went on the "Colbert Report" to show off what they have. The video can be viewed on the Comedy Central website by following this link.
http://www.comedycentral.com/videos/index.jhtml?videoId=164485
From the reports that I've heard he's been trying to make a vapor compression distiller, which is already super efficient, and make it so it can run on almost any energy source. Gas, electric, sun, or wood. The generator would be a Sterling Engine which uses a thermal difference to run. The point being that they can be distributed in third world countries so that everyone can have clean water to drink.
Recently Dean Kamen went on the "Colbert Report" to show off what they have. The video can be viewed on the Comedy Central website by following this link.
http://www.comedycentral.com/videos/index.jhtml?videoId=164485
Wednesday, April 23, 2008
Doctor Who
A new season of Doctor Who has started. In England. So I'm clearly watching it illegally. But I've bought every season when it comes on DVD so they can just lay off.
Memes
In season 1 the common thread tying everything together was the "Bad Wolf" message.
In season 3 it was some character named Saxon.
The disappearing bees have been mentioned in two episodes so I'm guessing that's this season's thread.
Revived villain
In season 1 they brought back the Daleks.
In season 2 they brought back the Cybermen. They also ended the season with the Dalek/Cyberman fight we'd been waiting for since 1963.
In season 3 they brought back The Master.
This coming Saturday they'll bring back the Sontarans. Ok, not one of the better known villains but they recurred quite a few times. Warrior race. Big dome helmet. Only vulnerability is a pipe on the back of the neck. None of this ringing a bell?
Companions
Catherine Tate has been brought back as The Doctor's companion Donna this season. She made an appearance a season back in a Christmas Special.
Martha Jones has moved on. If you watched this past season of Torchwood you know that The Doctor put in a good word and got her a job at UNIT. Well, she's gonna be in at least next weeks episode and probably a couple of others.
And Rose Tyler, lost in a parallel Earth and cut off forever... or not. She made an appearance at the end of the first episode this season. Spoilers indicate that Donna, Martha, and Rose all meet up in one episode.
coming soon
This is the last season for Executive Producer Russell T Davies. He gets most of the credit for making the Doctor Who revival such a wild success.
There's been some foreshadowing that indicates that David Tennent, the tenth and current Doctor, is going to die this season. This jives with spoilers from Catherine Tate but conflicts with what Tennent and the BBC have said.
4 episodes are to air in 2009 with season 5 airing in 2010.
new viewers
I was showing off my new laptop to one of the neighbor kids and queued up this season's pilot episode. He was hooked. So last night we flopped in front of the computer and watched the first two episodes of season 1. I know he'll be waiting for me to get home tonight. Despite never having seen the show before he's asking all the questions that those episodes were meant to have viewers asking.
"What war?"
"Why is she sorry?"
"Why is he crying?"
"Why do the British have such short television seasons?"
I also took him outside and explained what the model for the TARDIS is based off of. But I'll explain that tomorrow.
After four seasons Gandolf has started to get down and dance to the Dr. Who theme. Then the show starts and she flies back to her cage. I think it's the parrot equivalent of hiding behind the couch.
Memes
In season 1 the common thread tying everything together was the "Bad Wolf" message.
In season 3 it was some character named Saxon.
The disappearing bees have been mentioned in two episodes so I'm guessing that's this season's thread.
Revived villain
In season 1 they brought back the Daleks.In season 2 they brought back the Cybermen. They also ended the season with the Dalek/Cyberman fight we'd been waiting for since 1963.
In season 3 they brought back The Master.
This coming Saturday they'll bring back the Sontarans. Ok, not one of the better known villains but they recurred quite a few times. Warrior race. Big dome helmet. Only vulnerability is a pipe on the back of the neck. None of this ringing a bell?
Companions
Catherine Tate has been brought back as The Doctor's companion Donna this season. She made an appearance a season back in a Christmas Special.
Martha Jones has moved on. If you watched this past season of Torchwood you know that The Doctor put in a good word and got her a job at UNIT. Well, she's gonna be in at least next weeks episode and probably a couple of others.
And Rose Tyler, lost in a parallel Earth and cut off forever... or not. She made an appearance at the end of the first episode this season. Spoilers indicate that Donna, Martha, and Rose all meet up in one episode.
coming soon
This is the last season for Executive Producer Russell T Davies. He gets most of the credit for making the Doctor Who revival such a wild success.
There's been some foreshadowing that indicates that David Tennent, the tenth and current Doctor, is going to die this season. This jives with spoilers from Catherine Tate but conflicts with what Tennent and the BBC have said.
4 episodes are to air in 2009 with season 5 airing in 2010.
new viewers
I was showing off my new laptop to one of the neighbor kids and queued up this season's pilot episode. He was hooked. So last night we flopped in front of the computer and watched the first two episodes of season 1. I know he'll be waiting for me to get home tonight. Despite never having seen the show before he's asking all the questions that those episodes were meant to have viewers asking.
"What war?"
"Why is she sorry?"
"Why is he crying?"
"Why do the British have such short television seasons?"
I also took him outside and explained what the model for the TARDIS is based off of. But I'll explain that tomorrow.
After four seasons Gandolf has started to get down and dance to the Dr. Who theme. Then the show starts and she flies back to her cage. I think it's the parrot equivalent of hiding behind the couch.
Tuesday, April 22, 2008
Uwe Boll: The Petition
Uwe Boll is one of the worst movie makers ever. Apparently he's reenacting "The Producers" in reality. By making horrible, horrible movies that cause people to gouge out their eyes and burn movie theaters to cleanse the evil from the site he creates some sort of tax shelter for investors. But he does this by taking popular video games and adapting them for film.
He has:
3 BloodRayne movies (the third to be released in 2009)
2 Alone in the Dark movies (the second due in 2009)
A Far Cry movie due this year
A House of the Dead movie
A Dungeon Siege movie
Sabotage 1943(2009)
Zombie Massacre(2010)
And several cinematographic abortions that you've never heard of because they weren't based on games.
Uwe has the ability to take Oscar quality actors and a great premise and movies that will act as an anchor on the actors careers for the rest of their lives. But someone started a petition asking him to stop. Uwe has agreed that if it gets 1 million signatures he'll stop making movies. Of course, there's bound to be a catch. He may switch to TV or something.
I've heard about this petition in many places but I never saw a link to it until today. So I've signed it and am doing my part to help it propagate.
Follow the link
http://www.petitiononline.com/RRH53888/
He has:
3 BloodRayne movies (the third to be released in 2009)
2 Alone in the Dark movies (the second due in 2009)
A Far Cry movie due this year
A House of the Dead movie
A Dungeon Siege movie
Sabotage 1943(2009)
Zombie Massacre(2010)
And several cinematographic abortions that you've never heard of because they weren't based on games.
Uwe has the ability to take Oscar quality actors and a great premise and movies that will act as an anchor on the actors careers for the rest of their lives. But someone started a petition asking him to stop. Uwe has agreed that if it gets 1 million signatures he'll stop making movies. Of course, there's bound to be a catch. He may switch to TV or something.
I've heard about this petition in many places but I never saw a link to it until today. So I've signed it and am doing my part to help it propagate.
Follow the link
http://www.petitiononline.com/RRH53888/
Monday, April 21, 2008
Software Review: Delicious Library
Ever since I heard about this software I wanted to try it. For most of you, I regret that this requires a Mac to run and you either need a camera or a barcode scanner.
Those of you who've read the archives clear to the beginning will recall when I ran into an old college friend on an airplane. We just happened to be on the same plane and just happened to be across the aisle from each other. She first told me about this software that allows you to hold up the barcode from a book up to the computer's camera and it'll read the barcode, look up the ISBN number, download all the information on it, and build a database for all your books.
This is a huge improvement on databases I and millions of other young computer nerds have developed over the years for this class or that. They all require you to type in all the information manually. And, quite frankly, data entry sucks.
So now onto functionality. As awesome as it sounds how well does it actually work?
About half the time it works fine. It requires a bit of practice but soon you can stick the book up to the camera, the computer goes "beep", a whirly icon shows up, and it gets information about the book from one of 6 online databases. I think they're Amazon related.
About 1/4 of the time the camera has trouble seeing the barcode. You have to stand there like an idiot moving the book to different distances and angles hoping that the software will take something.
About 1/5 of the time it reads the wrong number. The software relies on the ISBN being in the barcode. Sometimes, particularly in older books, the barcode is something else. Then the lookup fails and you have to punch in the number manually.
Roughly 1 out of 10 fails completely. Wave that barcode around all you like, the camera ain't gonna see it.
I have to assume that a handheld scanner would work better.
The data recovered includes author, publisher, release dates, genre, format, number of pages, retail price, current price, UPC, summary, similar books, cover art, how many stars out of 5 that Amazon readers give it, and a lot more.
You can sell it on Amazon with a click of a button. You can add borrowers and keep track of who has borrowed what. You can setup virtual shelves so you can record where the book should be in your house. It even puts a Widget on your Dashboard for easy lookup. But if you don't have a Mac that last bit was just gibberish.
If you have a Mac I suggest you go out to http://www.delicious-monster.com/ and download the demo. It'll let you setup a library of 25 books without buying it. This way you can see the functionality and features for yourself.
It also does games, movies, and music.
Those of you who've read the archives clear to the beginning will recall when I ran into an old college friend on an airplane. We just happened to be on the same plane and just happened to be across the aisle from each other. She first told me about this software that allows you to hold up the barcode from a book up to the computer's camera and it'll read the barcode, look up the ISBN number, download all the information on it, and build a database for all your books.
This is a huge improvement on databases I and millions of other young computer nerds have developed over the years for this class or that. They all require you to type in all the information manually. And, quite frankly, data entry sucks.
So now onto functionality. As awesome as it sounds how well does it actually work?
About half the time it works fine. It requires a bit of practice but soon you can stick the book up to the camera, the computer goes "beep", a whirly icon shows up, and it gets information about the book from one of 6 online databases. I think they're Amazon related.
About 1/4 of the time the camera has trouble seeing the barcode. You have to stand there like an idiot moving the book to different distances and angles hoping that the software will take something.
About 1/5 of the time it reads the wrong number. The software relies on the ISBN being in the barcode. Sometimes, particularly in older books, the barcode is something else. Then the lookup fails and you have to punch in the number manually.
Roughly 1 out of 10 fails completely. Wave that barcode around all you like, the camera ain't gonna see it.
I have to assume that a handheld scanner would work better.
The data recovered includes author, publisher, release dates, genre, format, number of pages, retail price, current price, UPC, summary, similar books, cover art, how many stars out of 5 that Amazon readers give it, and a lot more.
You can sell it on Amazon with a click of a button. You can add borrowers and keep track of who has borrowed what. You can setup virtual shelves so you can record where the book should be in your house. It even puts a Widget on your Dashboard for easy lookup. But if you don't have a Mac that last bit was just gibberish.
If you have a Mac I suggest you go out to http://www.delicious-monster.com/ and download the demo. It'll let you setup a library of 25 books without buying it. This way you can see the functionality and features for yourself.
It also does games, movies, and music.
Friday, April 18, 2008
And now, young Skywalker, you will DIE
So we've managed to drive Pope Palpatine from DC. It's kinda hard to believe this is the same Ratzen-whatever that 3 years ago was selected by God, and a super-majority of Cardinals after numerous votes, to become Pope. I mean, Ratzinger was kind of a thug and a bully before. He was the unforgiving arm of the Vatican before becoming Pope. The last remnant of the Spanish Inquisition. It was his job to be strict and stern and come down hard on disbelievers. I guess this was so the Pope didn't have to seem like just a bastard. But since becoming Pope Ratzie has been a different person. He's admitted that many parts of the Bible aren't actually true, but allegory. He's given Catholics permission to believe in Evolution so long as they believe it was driven by God. But he still says that humanity was not the "accidental product, without meaning, of
evolution". Yesterday he personally apologized to many of the people who were sexual abused by priests. Not that he's actually done anything about it before now.
Of course, in 1950 Pope Pius also says the evidence for evolution shows it's worth considering. And Pope JP said in 1987 that the "evidence for evolution was heavy enough to eliminate any reasonable doubt". Still, they take the attitude that at some point God pointed at a group of primates andsaid "OY! You! 'Ave a soul."
On the down side:
Famous British astrophysicist Stephen Hawking says pope told him not to study beginning of universe.
After the Vatican Astronomers released a statement saying that "Intelligent Design" isn't science and claimed "It's not like [the pope] has a magic power, that God whispers the truth in his ear" they were booted from the Vatican and relocated to a disused convent.
And while I may not be his biggest fan I will defend him from people who claim he was a Nazi I must point out that he was a member of the Hitler Youth. He was 17 when the war ended. And while not all German kids were in the Hitler Youth like some claim, it was a good way to stay out of trouble. Three generations ago he was the German equivalent of a Boy Scout. While he was the head of the Inquisition that might be a much bigger concern.
But I'm still gonna look down on him for his views regarding the roles of women, the status of gays, and the use of birth control
Thursday, April 17, 2008
Movie Review: 88 Minutes
Al Pachino is a psychiatrist whose testimony helped put a man on death row nine years ago. As the execution date comes up someone with the exact same MO starts a similar string of murders based around Pachino's students, friends, etc. Then Pachino gets a call that tells him he has 88 minutes to live. He has to solve the murders before he gets killed himself. As events unfold the evidence for the murders indicates Pachino himself may be responsible.
It's standard fare for this kind of movie. The accused has everyone convinced he may be innocent but drops hints to the star to let him know he's not. They do an unusually good job of casting suspicions on anyone and everyone so you don't really know who dunnit until near the very end.
Half the reason for seeing the movie is just to see former Bene Gesserit turned redheaded hottie, Alicia Witt.
I probably wouldn't have paid to see it just because I don't really watch the murder mystery shows. Fans of CSI and similar detective shows should enjoy it. This movie takes that sort of story line and adds a dose of suspense. Not a big one, but one that the average viewer will find palatable.
It's standard fare for this kind of movie. The accused has everyone convinced he may be innocent but drops hints to the star to let him know he's not. They do an unusually good job of casting suspicions on anyone and everyone so you don't really know who dunnit until near the very end.
Half the reason for seeing the movie is just to see former Bene Gesserit turned redheaded hottie, Alicia Witt.
I probably wouldn't have paid to see it just because I don't really watch the murder mystery shows. Fans of CSI and similar detective shows should enjoy it. This movie takes that sort of story line and adds a dose of suspense. Not a big one, but one that the average viewer will find palatable.
Wednesday, April 16, 2008
Laptop
I'd been talking about getting a new portable machine for awhile. Lots of reasons really. My desk bound computer stopped talking to the TV after a Microsoft Update. Computer based DVD players are better than those in regular DVD players and PS2s. I wanted to be able to flop on the couch and develop my next website. I can no longer work on my novel off my PalmPilot and a desk doesn't aid creativity. What finally did it was my desire to see a Space Shuttle launch.
I went to the Apple store... yes, it's a Mac. I do graphics, page layout, audio and video editing. This is the best machine for the job. And if I want to use it play games I can partition the hard drive and install Windows on one. See, a Mac running Windows still runs faster and better than a PC running Windows. Get over it.
So I went to the Apple store and found all the sales people clustered up against a back wall. So I got in line. Nearing the front of the line someone asked me if I needed help. I explained that all the staff seemed to be hiding in the back room or pressed against this wall by the press of customers. She hauled someone out by his ear and forced him to help me. I told him what I wanted, what it cost, and pointed at it. He started talking about getting an AirPort (Apple for wireless hub), wireless printer (I don't print), wireless external drives (unnecessary), now just shuffle off and get me what I asked for. He returns with a disturbingly small box. He's telling me stuff I already know while read the back of the box. I hand it back and repeat my order. He goes in the back and returns with it. I swipe my credit card in his portable reader and try to leave. No, I don't need a bag. This box has a handle. I have what I want. Now go away and stop trying to sell me stuff.
The specs:
It's got a 17" widescreen monitor with 1920x1200 resolution. 200GB HD. 2GB RAM. 2.6 GHz Intel Core 2 Duo. OS 10.5.2. There's a camera above the monitor so I can video conference with others with the capability.
So one of the new computers that are supposed to show any day also has a camera. Instead of hiking to my office she can just bring me up on her screen. We should even be able to share screens so I can see what she's messing with. Actually, I should be able to share screens with all the new machines.
Probably the best new feature is Time Machine. It's basically backup software. I'm just bad about getting work stuff backed up on a regular basis.
I went to the Apple store... yes, it's a Mac. I do graphics, page layout, audio and video editing. This is the best machine for the job. And if I want to use it play games I can partition the hard drive and install Windows on one. See, a Mac running Windows still runs faster and better than a PC running Windows. Get over it.
So I went to the Apple store and found all the sales people clustered up against a back wall. So I got in line. Nearing the front of the line someone asked me if I needed help. I explained that all the staff seemed to be hiding in the back room or pressed against this wall by the press of customers. She hauled someone out by his ear and forced him to help me. I told him what I wanted, what it cost, and pointed at it. He started talking about getting an AirPort (Apple for wireless hub), wireless printer (I don't print), wireless external drives (unnecessary), now just shuffle off and get me what I asked for. He returns with a disturbingly small box. He's telling me stuff I already know while read the back of the box. I hand it back and repeat my order. He goes in the back and returns with it. I swipe my credit card in his portable reader and try to leave. No, I don't need a bag. This box has a handle. I have what I want. Now go away and stop trying to sell me stuff.
The specs:
It's got a 17" widescreen monitor with 1920x1200 resolution. 200GB HD. 2GB RAM. 2.6 GHz Intel Core 2 Duo. OS 10.5.2. There's a camera above the monitor so I can video conference with others with the capability.
So one of the new computers that are supposed to show any day also has a camera. Instead of hiking to my office she can just bring me up on her screen. We should even be able to share screens so I can see what she's messing with. Actually, I should be able to share screens with all the new machines.
Probably the best new feature is Time Machine. It's basically backup software. I'm just bad about getting work stuff backed up on a regular basis.
Tuesday, April 15, 2008
Mission is a go
They call it a "Bucket List" these days because of the movie by the same name. It's supposed to be a list you make of all the stuff you want to do before you die. My list includes
1) See a Space Shuttle launch
2) See a proper Aurora Borealis
3) Visit the Devil's Racetrack in Death Valley
I should have gone to see the Devil's Racetrack while a friend of mine was living in the American southwest. I didn't.
I tried to go see a Shuttle launch back in 2002. I even flew the previously mentioned friend to Florida so I wouldn't have to go alone. But you know NASA and their flight schedule. It ranks right up there with Santa Claus, the Weather Man, and the DC Bus Schedule in the realm of pure fiction. There were delays and we didn't see the shuttle go up.
But now... now I'm going back. There's a launch scheduled for May 31. I'm going down there and I'm going to stay until I see 4.5 million pounds of steel, explosives, and people fire off into the sky on trail of barely controlled flaming accelerant. This could take a few days or it could take a few weeks.
I bought a new laptop Friday. I'll tell you more about it tomorrow. This laptop is to travel to Florida with me loaded with work. I'll get a hotel with a good internet connection and telecommute from Orlando.
The big hurtle was getting the office to work with me. I was planning to go regardless of what they thought. But we do have a few books that I'm working on at the moment and more on the way. Bruise has proven he gets a little stupider each day and we're just trying to keep him from doing damage until he retires. My manager picked up layout pretty quick but she's really an editor and has paperwork eating her time. Some damn fool wants to modify his contract so he can telecommute for a few weeks. It's all me, baby.
The breakthrough came yesterday when we did enough rules lawyering with the contracting company to allow us to follow the letter of the contract if not the spirit.
Now to arrange a hotel and rental car.
Monday, April 14, 2008
A very DC day
Sunday was a very DC day.
Sunday morning I wake to a ringing sound. Is it the telephone or the parrot? I wait. The ringing repeats. I fly down stairs. I'm reminded that a friend's fiance is in town and needs some showing around.
I go to the nearest Metro stop. As I go down the escalator I hear someone following me. Apparently he thinks he's William Hung (bad singer from American Idle whose horrid caterwauling has reached such legendary proportions that even I know who he is). When we get to the platform I find that he is a she. I exchange glances with one of the few other people on the platform. We roll our eyes at each other and sit. The singer flops down next to us and starts talking at the other guy very loudly. She's clearly on some sort of drug. He tries to be polite but he can't keep a straight face as she offers to show him her new Brazilian wax job. I'm sure that my silent laughs behind her back weren't helping him keep his calm demeanor either. She gives him her phone number and insists he call her right then. She shows him her tits. We escape onto the train. During the trip she starts going from car to car looking for him. I don't mean she steps out onto the platform and switches cars. While moving she opens the doors at the end and walks between cars.
I hop out and go hit Starbucks for a bit of breakfast. Outside there's some people desperately trying to ignore a screaming street preacher. All decked out in a suit that some people think automatically makes one respectable. He sounds a lot like the demented preacher who used to live next door and liked to launch into screaming tirades against demonic fireflies at three in the morning.
And then the 70° weather of the day before was gone. The visitor and I hit the Hirshhorn and strolled around the Tidal Basin in the wind and the cold.
Stoners, subways, Starbucks, street preachers, and showing around visitors. It was a very DC day.
Sunday morning I wake to a ringing sound. Is it the telephone or the parrot? I wait. The ringing repeats. I fly down stairs. I'm reminded that a friend's fiance is in town and needs some showing around.
I go to the nearest Metro stop. As I go down the escalator I hear someone following me. Apparently he thinks he's William Hung (bad singer from American Idle whose horrid caterwauling has reached such legendary proportions that even I know who he is). When we get to the platform I find that he is a she. I exchange glances with one of the few other people on the platform. We roll our eyes at each other and sit. The singer flops down next to us and starts talking at the other guy very loudly. She's clearly on some sort of drug. He tries to be polite but he can't keep a straight face as she offers to show him her new Brazilian wax job. I'm sure that my silent laughs behind her back weren't helping him keep his calm demeanor either. She gives him her phone number and insists he call her right then. She shows him her tits. We escape onto the train. During the trip she starts going from car to car looking for him. I don't mean she steps out onto the platform and switches cars. While moving she opens the doors at the end and walks between cars.
I hop out and go hit Starbucks for a bit of breakfast. Outside there's some people desperately trying to ignore a screaming street preacher. All decked out in a suit that some people think automatically makes one respectable. He sounds a lot like the demented preacher who used to live next door and liked to launch into screaming tirades against demonic fireflies at three in the morning.
And then the 70° weather of the day before was gone. The visitor and I hit the Hirshhorn and strolled around the Tidal Basin in the wind and the cold.
Stoners, subways, Starbucks, street preachers, and showing around visitors. It was a very DC day.
Friday, April 11, 2008
Dark side of the moon
I've had to explain this to a lot of people lately and so I'm going to explain it to you, too.
There is no dark side of the moon.
Look, the implication of that phrase is that there's one side of the moon that never gets daylight. That's simply not true. The moon is tidal locked with Earth. That means that the rotation and the orbit are the same length so that one side always faces the body it's orbiting. It's orbiting the Earth, not the sun. The fact that the moon has phases means that at some point it all gets lit. Full moon means the side facing Earth is lit. New moon means the side facing the sun gets lit. There is no dark side of the moon.
Mercury was once thought to have a dark side. But closer observation reveals that it rotates 1.5 times for each orbit. This means that a Mercurial day is two Mercurial years long.
Earth's rotation is slowly slowing. Given enough time Earth will slow it's spin, but not it's orbit, until one side always faces the cold red lump that will be all that's left of the sun by then.
There is no dark side of the moon.
Look, the implication of that phrase is that there's one side of the moon that never gets daylight. That's simply not true. The moon is tidal locked with Earth. That means that the rotation and the orbit are the same length so that one side always faces the body it's orbiting. It's orbiting the Earth, not the sun. The fact that the moon has phases means that at some point it all gets lit. Full moon means the side facing Earth is lit. New moon means the side facing the sun gets lit. There is no dark side of the moon.
Mercury was once thought to have a dark side. But closer observation reveals that it rotates 1.5 times for each orbit. This means that a Mercurial day is two Mercurial years long.
Earth's rotation is slowly slowing. Given enough time Earth will slow it's spin, but not it's orbit, until one side always faces the cold red lump that will be all that's left of the sun by then.
Thursday, April 10, 2008
Movie Review: The Forbidden Kingdom
Selling point 1:
Starring Jackie Chan and Jet Li
Selling point 2:
Jackie Chan plays Drunken Immortal
Really, if these two points don't sell you then this isn't your kind of movie. With what I've already said you'll either go see it or you won't.
I don't watch a lot of Kung Fu movies. Then again, I guess "a lot" is relative. I watch a lot more than grandma. Not as many as the central character in this movie. I see the really good ones like "Crouching Tiger/Hidden Dragon" and the silly ones like "Shaolin Soccer". Everything I knew about this movie going in is what I said in those first two selling points. Having now seen it I have a third selling point.
Selling point 3:
It's a Kung Fu version of The Wizard of Oz.
I won't get it on DVD, but it was still a great movie.
Starring Jackie Chan and Jet Li
Selling point 2:
Jackie Chan plays Drunken Immortal
Really, if these two points don't sell you then this isn't your kind of movie. With what I've already said you'll either go see it or you won't.
I don't watch a lot of Kung Fu movies. Then again, I guess "a lot" is relative. I watch a lot more than grandma. Not as many as the central character in this movie. I see the really good ones like "Crouching Tiger/Hidden Dragon" and the silly ones like "Shaolin Soccer". Everything I knew about this movie going in is what I said in those first two selling points. Having now seen it I have a third selling point.
Selling point 3:
It's a Kung Fu version of The Wizard of Oz.
I won't get it on DVD, but it was still a great movie.
Wednesday, April 09, 2008
Perfect woman
Apparently the thing for bloggers to do this week is write about the perfect woman (or man). [link] [link] [link] So here goes.
Long red hair,
former Playboy bunny,
worked as a masseuse to pay for her education as an electronics engineer,
loves to cook,
and is crazy about me.
I used to have a better list than that.
But that's the fantasy list. My real list is a bit different.
Physically:
Height doesn't matter. There's something to be said for amazons but you can't scoop one of them up in your arms.
I'm all for a large chest, but the important thing is that her waist is narrower than her chest and her hips.
There's nothing wrong with being a bit overweight. It can make her cuddly. It's more where the fat is carried on her frame than how much she has. There is a point where there's just too much. Her circumference should not exceed her height.
I like long hair in color extremes. Very blond, very dark, very red, very purple, etc.
Mentally:
I want a geek.
She should have been in the gifted program in school.
Personality:
T-shirt and blue jeans.
Steak and potatoes.
Hates sports. I really miss the days when women hated football and baseball. I don't want to watch that crap and would rather she doesn't either.
She should read. Anything is good, but sci-fi, fantasy, and science texts are better.
Doesn't find getting drunk to be an entertainment in and of itself.
Likes to snuggle. And by snuggle I mean snuggle. We should be able to sleep a curled up together.
Has the attention span to play a long game of Risk or Monopoly even if she hates those specific games.
Would rather find a new use for something than just throw it out.
Notices that my ears lifting a bit IS a smile.
Knows more than me in some worthwhile area. Reality shows and what famous person is dating who are not a worthwhile areas.
We can feed off of each other's jokes.
Can get me to open up without months of dating.
Understands that just because I'm not trying to maneuver her into bed doesn't mean I don't like her.
Doesn't want to raise kids.
And she should be able to give and appreciate a good back rub.
Long red hair,
former Playboy bunny,
worked as a masseuse to pay for her education as an electronics engineer,
loves to cook,
and is crazy about me.
I used to have a better list than that.
But that's the fantasy list. My real list is a bit different.
Physically:
Height doesn't matter. There's something to be said for amazons but you can't scoop one of them up in your arms.
I'm all for a large chest, but the important thing is that her waist is narrower than her chest and her hips.
There's nothing wrong with being a bit overweight. It can make her cuddly. It's more where the fat is carried on her frame than how much she has. There is a point where there's just too much. Her circumference should not exceed her height.
I like long hair in color extremes. Very blond, very dark, very red, very purple, etc.
Mentally:
I want a geek.
She should have been in the gifted program in school.
Personality:
T-shirt and blue jeans.
Steak and potatoes.
Hates sports. I really miss the days when women hated football and baseball. I don't want to watch that crap and would rather she doesn't either.
She should read. Anything is good, but sci-fi, fantasy, and science texts are better.
Doesn't find getting drunk to be an entertainment in and of itself.
Likes to snuggle. And by snuggle I mean snuggle. We should be able to sleep a curled up together.
Has the attention span to play a long game of Risk or Monopoly even if she hates those specific games.
Would rather find a new use for something than just throw it out.
Notices that my ears lifting a bit IS a smile.
Knows more than me in some worthwhile area. Reality shows and what famous person is dating who are not a worthwhile areas.
We can feed off of each other's jokes.
Can get me to open up without months of dating.
Understands that just because I'm not trying to maneuver her into bed doesn't mean I don't like her.
Doesn't want to raise kids.
And she should be able to give and appreciate a good back rub.
Tuesday, April 08, 2008
The fishing expedition
This was written some time ago.
EXT. PIER - LOW TIDE
Three young boys sit along a wooden sidewalk, their legs hanging in space, fishing poles in hand. They face out towards the open ocean, the sun hanging over the horizon. They sit quietly.
BOBBY: So that's it, huh? It's over?
TOMMY: Yep.
(silence)
RALPH: You know which of your parents you're gonna live with?
TOMMY: Not really. Penny Smithers says it doesn't matter. The judge'll axe me but he's only being polite. They'll put me with whoever they feel like.
BOBBY: Penny Smithers is a jerk. She's just tryin' tuh scare you. She don't know anything about it anyway.
(silence)
TOMMY: Yeah.
(silence)
RALPH: What if you have to move away?
BOBBY: Why would he do somethin' like that?
RALPH: Both his mom and dad can't both live in the same house. Someone's gonna have to move. Lil' Henry Jenkins? His mom moved to Chicago and took him with him.
(silence)
BOBBY: Then why's he still hangin' around here?
(silence)
RALPH: Dunno. 's just what I herd.
(silence)
TOMMY: Don' wanna move. All my stuff is here.
RALPH: Dummy, yuh git to take your stuff ...
(Tommy's pole twitches for a moment and starts to jerk violently)
TOMMY: I GOT ONE! I got one!
(The boys jump to their feet. Tommy waves the pole up and down while reeling in the string.)
BOBBY: Look at the size of that it's huge!
RALPH: WOW! Look at it thrash! I've never seen one fight like that!
TOMMY: Get the net! Someone get the net!
BOBBY: I got it! Bring it up!
RALPH: Don't lose it! Don't lose it!
TOMMY: NOW! NOW! NETNETNET!
(Bobby reaches down with the net and brings up a huge, wet, brown, rat.)
RALPH: Quick! Get it in the box! Oh, man, they're never going to believe this at school.
TOMMY(awed): I've never seen one this big before!
(Bobby drops the net on the ground and smacks it with a frying pan. He dumps the unconscious rat in a box.)
ALL(awed): Wow.
(silence)
TOMMY: Where'd you put that bologna? I want catch another.
(the boys procede to hook another slice of bologna on Tommy's fishing pole.)
EXT. PIER - LOW TIDE
Three young boys sit along a wooden sidewalk, their legs hanging in space, fishing poles in hand. They face out towards the open ocean, the sun hanging over the horizon. They sit quietly.
BOBBY: So that's it, huh? It's over?
TOMMY: Yep.
(silence)
RALPH: You know which of your parents you're gonna live with?
TOMMY: Not really. Penny Smithers says it doesn't matter. The judge'll axe me but he's only being polite. They'll put me with whoever they feel like.
BOBBY: Penny Smithers is a jerk. She's just tryin' tuh scare you. She don't know anything about it anyway.
(silence)
TOMMY: Yeah.
(silence)
RALPH: What if you have to move away?
BOBBY: Why would he do somethin' like that?
RALPH: Both his mom and dad can't both live in the same house. Someone's gonna have to move. Lil' Henry Jenkins? His mom moved to Chicago and took him with him.
(silence)
BOBBY: Then why's he still hangin' around here?
(silence)
RALPH: Dunno. 's just what I herd.
(silence)
TOMMY: Don' wanna move. All my stuff is here.
RALPH: Dummy, yuh git to take your stuff ...
(Tommy's pole twitches for a moment and starts to jerk violently)
TOMMY: I GOT ONE! I got one!
(The boys jump to their feet. Tommy waves the pole up and down while reeling in the string.)
BOBBY: Look at the size of that it's huge!
RALPH: WOW! Look at it thrash! I've never seen one fight like that!
TOMMY: Get the net! Someone get the net!
BOBBY: I got it! Bring it up!
RALPH: Don't lose it! Don't lose it!
TOMMY: NOW! NOW! NETNETNET!
(Bobby reaches down with the net and brings up a huge, wet, brown, rat.)
RALPH: Quick! Get it in the box! Oh, man, they're never going to believe this at school.
TOMMY(awed): I've never seen one this big before!
(Bobby drops the net on the ground and smacks it with a frying pan. He dumps the unconscious rat in a box.)
ALL(awed): Wow.
(silence)
TOMMY: Where'd you put that bologna? I want catch another.
(the boys procede to hook another slice of bologna on Tommy's fishing pole.)
Monday, April 07, 2008
Book sale
The Friends of the Arlington Library book sale is coming. It starts Tuesday and runs through the weekend. It's located in the first level of the parking deck under the central library (1015 North Quincy Street). You have to be a member to get in but you can become a member at the entrance for $15. Or, at least that's what I paid last year.
That may seem like a lot of money to get into a used book store. But the selection is pretty impressive even if you don't get in on the first day. Last year I walked out with $101 in books at an average cost of ~$1.75 each. My Krode came away with several times that and needed several trips to get all the books to his car. His daughter had a good selection of her own and made a good sherpa for hauling his books. (That's a joke Mrs. Krode)
That may seem like a lot of money to get into a used book store. But the selection is pretty impressive even if you don't get in on the first day. Last year I walked out with $101 in books at an average cost of ~$1.75 each. My Krode came away with several times that and needed several trips to get all the books to his car. His daughter had a good selection of her own and made a good sherpa for hauling his books. (That's a joke Mrs. Krode)
Friday, April 04, 2008
Book Review: The World Without Us
There's a couple of subjects that I stop and ponder from time to time.
1) What would happen if every human just vanished one day.
2) What did this place look like before people came.
3) How would you introduce Abe Lincoln to the world if he showed up one day.
4) Whatever happened to women hating sports? I liked those women better than the football fans.
One day I got a link to this site.
http://www.worldwithoutus.com/did_you_know.html
Move your mouse over the squares to find out how the artifacts of civilization would break down in those time spans.
Later I got a link to this video.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5NvDhNZNSBk
These both address the first question. I was pretty much sold on the book right there.
"The World Without Us" poses the question of what would happen if everyone vanished one day. Maybe aliens kidnap us all, maybe there's a 100% fatal plague, who knows. The point is we're gone.
Most of the book covers how things were before people and then addresses how well we'd return to that.
Chapter 1 talks about a forest in eastern Europe that was protected by one dictator or tyrant for centuries and how the introduction of democracy means that this forest primeval is now getting raided for corporate interests.
Chapter 2 talks about your house, it's vulnerabilities, and how it will crumble over 200 years with nobody to tend to it.
Chapter 3 talks about New York City and how it'll fall apart
Chapter 4 talks about ice ages.
Chapter 5 talks about Thomas Jefferson's fascination with fossils and how he sent Lewis and Clark to look for Mammoths. It goes on to talk about all the mega-fauna that once inhabited North America until they were killed off by the Native Americans. Turns out they didn't live in tune with nature as much as grade school taught us.
Chapter 6 tries to explain why the African mega-fauna lived while it was wiped out everywhere else humans expanded.
Chapter 7 talks about a part of Cyprus where a peace deal keeps people from going and how the hotels and homes there fell apart.
Chapter 8 goes on about artifacts of older times that survived until now.
Chapter 9: It's all plastics these days... and will be until the end of time.
Chapter 10 talks about all the oil refineries in Texas and the big kablooie they're gonna make. It also talks about the different ways that oil is refined into different products.
Chapter 11 talk about what'll happen to the farmland. It pays attention to some research done long ago into what helps and what hinders crops. That researcher also set aside land just to see what happens when fields treated different ways are left alone. That experiment has been running since 1882.
Chapter 12 talks about great wonders. Pyramids, the Great Wall, and the Panama Canal.
Chapter 13 talks about the developments inside the Korean DMZ.
Chapter 14 talks about how birds respond to our presence and our technology.
Chapter 15 talks about our radioactive "nature preserves".
Chapter 16 talks about our impact on geography.
Chapter 17 talks about how we preserve our bodies.
Chapter 18 talks about what we've sent into space.
Chapter 19 talks about life in the ocean, our impact on it, and how it might recover.
The Coda talks about population control.
The fun chapters are 2, 3, and 10. The book is worth it just for those chapters. But the rest of the book is interesting and readable, too.
This goes on my highly recommended list. I just wish I'd found it a few months earlier when the author was in town signing them.
1) What would happen if every human just vanished one day.
2) What did this place look like before people came.
3) How would you introduce Abe Lincoln to the world if he showed up one day.
4) Whatever happened to women hating sports? I liked those women better than the football fans.
One day I got a link to this site.
http://www.worldwithoutus.com/did_you_know.html
Move your mouse over the squares to find out how the artifacts of civilization would break down in those time spans.
Later I got a link to this video.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5NvDhNZNSBk
These both address the first question. I was pretty much sold on the book right there.
"The World Without Us" poses the question of what would happen if everyone vanished one day. Maybe aliens kidnap us all, maybe there's a 100% fatal plague, who knows. The point is we're gone.
Most of the book covers how things were before people and then addresses how well we'd return to that.
Chapter 1 talks about a forest in eastern Europe that was protected by one dictator or tyrant for centuries and how the introduction of democracy means that this forest primeval is now getting raided for corporate interests.
Chapter 2 talks about your house, it's vulnerabilities, and how it will crumble over 200 years with nobody to tend to it.
Chapter 3 talks about New York City and how it'll fall apart
Chapter 4 talks about ice ages.
Chapter 5 talks about Thomas Jefferson's fascination with fossils and how he sent Lewis and Clark to look for Mammoths. It goes on to talk about all the mega-fauna that once inhabited North America until they were killed off by the Native Americans. Turns out they didn't live in tune with nature as much as grade school taught us.
Chapter 6 tries to explain why the African mega-fauna lived while it was wiped out everywhere else humans expanded.
Chapter 7 talks about a part of Cyprus where a peace deal keeps people from going and how the hotels and homes there fell apart.
Chapter 8 goes on about artifacts of older times that survived until now.
Chapter 9: It's all plastics these days... and will be until the end of time.
Chapter 10 talks about all the oil refineries in Texas and the big kablooie they're gonna make. It also talks about the different ways that oil is refined into different products.
Chapter 11 talk about what'll happen to the farmland. It pays attention to some research done long ago into what helps and what hinders crops. That researcher also set aside land just to see what happens when fields treated different ways are left alone. That experiment has been running since 1882.
Chapter 12 talks about great wonders. Pyramids, the Great Wall, and the Panama Canal.
Chapter 13 talks about the developments inside the Korean DMZ.
Chapter 14 talks about how birds respond to our presence and our technology.
Chapter 15 talks about our radioactive "nature preserves".
Chapter 16 talks about our impact on geography.
Chapter 17 talks about how we preserve our bodies.
Chapter 18 talks about what we've sent into space.
Chapter 19 talks about life in the ocean, our impact on it, and how it might recover.
The Coda talks about population control.
The fun chapters are 2, 3, and 10. The book is worth it just for those chapters. But the rest of the book is interesting and readable, too.
This goes on my highly recommended list. I just wish I'd found it a few months earlier when the author was in town signing them.
Thursday, April 03, 2008
Event Review: Electricity –Use it or Lose it?
On the first Tuesday of every month The Ballston Science and Technology Alliance hosts Café Scientifique. It's a talk about some scientific point of interest. This week they had Dr. Imre Gyuk from the Department of Energy talk about energy storage systems.
The talk started with a history of energy storage and generation systems. Starting with a pot to hold grain through today. There was an interesting battery of sorts found in Baghdad dating from between 200BC and 250AD. The best anyone can figure is that they used it for electro plating.
Things got more interesting when he started talking about huge batteries for storing energy.
In electronics you can use capacitors to smooth out irregularities.
For smoothing out quick rapid spikes in power consumption the cycles of the electrical system can be slowed from 60 cycles per second to something less. A cycle refers to how often the power reverses directions in an Alternating Current (AC) supply.
For larger spikes, like a clumsy squirrel on the power lines, you can get a UPC for your computer or a massive battery in the case of a whole building. This is used more in factories where that hiccup can cause the system to gum up and require several hours to clean and restart.
For whole towns there's hefty multi-megawatt batteries that are sometimes installed along side the older power relay stations. This is for when the town is growing faster than transmission capacity. You don't want to wait through 3 years of brownouts while another relay station gets built.
In huge cases, like Fairbanks, Alaska, the power is all sent several hundred miles from Anchorage. With all the towns and the distance between points A and B power in Fairbanks is pretty iffy. So they installed the world's biggest battery (40 MW I think) to keep things on more of an even keel.
What the speaker was proposing was that more of these sort of systems get built. As demand in the mornings and evenings is greater than the middle of the night these batteries could be charged at night, during the 25% lowest demand, and used during the day, during the 25% greatest demand. Individual factories could save money by storing the night power for use during the peak hours. But whole cities could also benefit. And, of course, this would solve the common complaint that solar power doesn't work at night and wind power doesn't work when it's still.
For $1 million dollars I can get a 1MW wind turbine at the farm. For $1 million more I can get a 1 MW battery so that it generates electricity at a constant rate all day long. Do you have $2 million I can borrow?
Then there's other storage systems. We can use extra power to pump water behind a dam and then use it to run turbines when the demand is greater. Or pump air into an underground reservoir and then let the pressure drive turbines.
The purpose for all this is to make renewable energy more useful as well as make our power grid more reliable. In the age of computers power flow can't take even little twinges.
Me? I want to build a 20 story dippy bird drinking from a lake. Just harness the power of the liquid running up and down the neck and put a generator on the pivot point.
If you want to get on the mailing list for future Cafe events I'd suggest e-mailing kbreen at arlingtonva dot us. I don't think that's how I did it, but it's the best idea I can find at the moment.
The talk started with a history of energy storage and generation systems. Starting with a pot to hold grain through today. There was an interesting battery of sorts found in Baghdad dating from between 200BC and 250AD. The best anyone can figure is that they used it for electro plating.
Things got more interesting when he started talking about huge batteries for storing energy.
In electronics you can use capacitors to smooth out irregularities.
For smoothing out quick rapid spikes in power consumption the cycles of the electrical system can be slowed from 60 cycles per second to something less. A cycle refers to how often the power reverses directions in an Alternating Current (AC) supply.
For larger spikes, like a clumsy squirrel on the power lines, you can get a UPC for your computer or a massive battery in the case of a whole building. This is used more in factories where that hiccup can cause the system to gum up and require several hours to clean and restart.
For whole towns there's hefty multi-megawatt batteries that are sometimes installed along side the older power relay stations. This is for when the town is growing faster than transmission capacity. You don't want to wait through 3 years of brownouts while another relay station gets built.
In huge cases, like Fairbanks, Alaska, the power is all sent several hundred miles from Anchorage. With all the towns and the distance between points A and B power in Fairbanks is pretty iffy. So they installed the world's biggest battery (40 MW I think) to keep things on more of an even keel.
What the speaker was proposing was that more of these sort of systems get built. As demand in the mornings and evenings is greater than the middle of the night these batteries could be charged at night, during the 25% lowest demand, and used during the day, during the 25% greatest demand. Individual factories could save money by storing the night power for use during the peak hours. But whole cities could also benefit. And, of course, this would solve the common complaint that solar power doesn't work at night and wind power doesn't work when it's still.
For $1 million dollars I can get a 1MW wind turbine at the farm. For $1 million more I can get a 1 MW battery so that it generates electricity at a constant rate all day long. Do you have $2 million I can borrow?
Then there's other storage systems. We can use extra power to pump water behind a dam and then use it to run turbines when the demand is greater. Or pump air into an underground reservoir and then let the pressure drive turbines.
The purpose for all this is to make renewable energy more useful as well as make our power grid more reliable. In the age of computers power flow can't take even little twinges.
Me? I want to build a 20 story dippy bird drinking from a lake. Just harness the power of the liquid running up and down the neck and put a generator on the pivot point.
If you want to get on the mailing list for future Cafe events I'd suggest e-mailing kbreen at arlingtonva dot us. I don't think that's how I did it, but it's the best idea I can find at the moment.
Wednesday, April 02, 2008
Movie Review: Run Fatboy Run
"Shawn of the Dead" was a really good movie. The British TV show "Spaced" was also pretty awesome. I'm really looking forward to the next Star Trek movie. In fact, I think I can say I'm a fan of Simon Pegg as writer and an actor. Enough so that I went to see "Hot Fuzz" and "Run, Fatboy, Run" based just on his involvement.
Much to my surprise, "Run, Fatboy, Run" is a romantic comedy. I suppose it shouldn't have been a surprise. He did a zombie flick and a buddy cop movie. What's next in line? But the trailers I saw didn't include that part of the film. They focused on Simon Pegg trying to work out.
Several years ago Dennis left his pregnant fiance at the alter. He's still in her life as her kid's father. He'd like more but women have trouble forgetting that kind of thing. Now she's dating Hank Azaria. Rich, handsome, runs marathons for charity, all that good stuff. So Dennis decides to run the marathon, too, just to prove that he can change from the irresponsible bum he is. He's trained by his best buddy and his landlord.
The ending is the predictable one where he finishes the race despite an injury and wins the girl.
It's a funny movie. I liked it more than "Hot Fuzz" but not as much as "Shawn...". But there wasn't much in the way of laughing out loud and I won't be getting it on DVD.
Still, I'll be going to see him play young Scotty in "Star Trek 11". Pegg's enough of a geek that he must have flipped when he got that role.
Much to my surprise, "Run, Fatboy, Run" is a romantic comedy. I suppose it shouldn't have been a surprise. He did a zombie flick and a buddy cop movie. What's next in line? But the trailers I saw didn't include that part of the film. They focused on Simon Pegg trying to work out.
Several years ago Dennis left his pregnant fiance at the alter. He's still in her life as her kid's father. He'd like more but women have trouble forgetting that kind of thing. Now she's dating Hank Azaria. Rich, handsome, runs marathons for charity, all that good stuff. So Dennis decides to run the marathon, too, just to prove that he can change from the irresponsible bum he is. He's trained by his best buddy and his landlord.
The ending is the predictable one where he finishes the race despite an injury and wins the girl.
It's a funny movie. I liked it more than "Hot Fuzz" but not as much as "Shawn...". But there wasn't much in the way of laughing out loud and I won't be getting it on DVD.
Still, I'll be going to see him play young Scotty in "Star Trek 11". Pegg's enough of a geek that he must have flipped when he got that role.
Tuesday, April 01, 2008
Movie Review: 21
Back in 2002 I read an article in "Wired" about a long running card counting jag in Las Vegas. Apparently some MIT students had worked out a multi person card counting system that the casinos couldn't catch. I read the article and thought it would make a great movie.
That article is available at http://www.wired.com/wired/archive/10.09/vegas.html.
Apparently somebody wrote a book that was a fictionalized account of this story. That book was made into the movie "21". For the movie they simplified the con run in the article. They added a Kevin Spacey character as the professor and ringleader. But some of the fake names were kept from the "Wired" article.
The movie focuses on a kid at MIT who has been accepted to Harvard Med but lacks the money to attend. He's recruited for the team and agrees to join, but only until he makes the $300,000 he needs. That and the fact that there's a girl on the team that he likes. From then on the movie is rather predictable, but no less entertaining for that.
Naturally, the thrill and the money change things a bit. Parties, nice clothes, limos, etc. Eventually our main character screws up and loses a lot of money. There's a falling out. He gets busted by security. Things fall apart. Things come back together. There's an obvious and predictable twist. Another twist. And things work out for our hero in the end.
My attitude toward this movie is kind of like my attitude toward "Hitman". I wanted this to be a good movie and it is. But my desire for it to be a good movie isn't enough to make it good enough to get on DVD.
Read the article I posted above. That's the best sales pitch for the movie. If that doesn't make you say "that'd be a good movie" then don't see it.
Correction: The Wired article was also based on the book. It was embellished for the movie.
That article is available at http://www.wired.com/wired/archive/10.09/vegas.html.
Apparently somebody wrote a book that was a fictionalized account of this story. That book was made into the movie "21". For the movie they simplified the con run in the article. They added a Kevin Spacey character as the professor and ringleader. But some of the fake names were kept from the "Wired" article.
The movie focuses on a kid at MIT who has been accepted to Harvard Med but lacks the money to attend. He's recruited for the team and agrees to join, but only until he makes the $300,000 he needs. That and the fact that there's a girl on the team that he likes. From then on the movie is rather predictable, but no less entertaining for that.
Naturally, the thrill and the money change things a bit. Parties, nice clothes, limos, etc. Eventually our main character screws up and loses a lot of money. There's a falling out. He gets busted by security. Things fall apart. Things come back together. There's an obvious and predictable twist. Another twist. And things work out for our hero in the end.
My attitude toward this movie is kind of like my attitude toward "Hitman". I wanted this to be a good movie and it is. But my desire for it to be a good movie isn't enough to make it good enough to get on DVD.
Read the article I posted above. That's the best sales pitch for the movie. If that doesn't make you say "that'd be a good movie" then don't see it.
Correction: The Wired article was also based on the book. It was embellished for the movie.
Monday, March 31, 2008
Movie Review: Colour of Magic/Light Fantastic
Regular readers will remember me talking about the live action version of the
Diskworld book "The Hogfather" released by SkyOne in England two Christmases back and recently released on DVD. Well, now SkyOne has released "The Colour of Magic". It's a two part show that covers the first two books of the Diskworld series. And, I should add, that it was mucked about with sufficiently to reflect the quality inherent in the later books instead of the rubbish that were these first two. A narrator has been added and the whole thing works much better than "The Hogfather" did.
You should be able to download a torrent of it in all the less reputable P2P websites. Or you can do the right thing and wait a year and a half for it to come out on DVD. I already downloaded it AND will be getting the DVD.
Here's the story:
The Diskworld is a flat, circular world carried on the back of four massive elephant that stand on the back of an even more massive turtle. Most books focus on the city of Ankh-Morpork in one regard or another.
"The Colour of Magic" starts in Ankh-Morpork with the single most inept wizard, or "Wizzard" as his hat says, Rincewind being expelled from Unseen University after 40 years of not learning a single spell. Rincewind is played by the gentleman who once did the voice of Danger Mouse and Count Duckula.
Rincewind soon encounters a tourist known as Two Flower. Two Flower comes from the Counterweight Continent on the other side of the disk. It's made of a great deal of gold so as to act as a better counter to the main continent. Flashing around that much gold means that Rincewind just tries to get his share and vanish before the crowds slaughter Two Flower and take his gold. Two Flower is played by Sean Austin, recently back from his trip to Mordor and back.
What with one thing and another Ankh-Morpork catches fire and our heroes go looking to see the sights somewhere they're less likely to get lynched. They find themselves captured by some dragon lords and escape in a highly truncated sequence. As the dragon they escape on fades into nothingness they fall in the ocean and are nearly washed over the rim. They find their way to a civilization that wants to sacrifice them in the hopes that ... well, they escape onto a space ship that is going over the edge of the rim to find the turtle's gender.
There's a parallel story of a wizard killing his way to the top. But to get ultimate power, and save the world from plunging into a star, he needs all 8 spells in a book called the Octavo. Alas, the 8th spell is hiding in Rincewind's head.
In part/book 2 the spells have remade the Diskworld with Rincewind and Two Flower on it instead of drifting through space. On the way back to Ankh-Morpork they hook up with Cohen the (97 year old) Barbarian. They get back and save the Diskworld.
Of the whole series of Diskworld books these two are the weakest. They're also the first. This show does much better with the story but there's still value in reading the book.
Diskworld book "The Hogfather" released by SkyOne in England two Christmases back and recently released on DVD. Well, now SkyOne has released "The Colour of Magic". It's a two part show that covers the first two books of the Diskworld series. And, I should add, that it was mucked about with sufficiently to reflect the quality inherent in the later books instead of the rubbish that were these first two. A narrator has been added and the whole thing works much better than "The Hogfather" did.
You should be able to download a torrent of it in all the less reputable P2P websites. Or you can do the right thing and wait a year and a half for it to come out on DVD. I already downloaded it AND will be getting the DVD.
Here's the story:
The Diskworld is a flat, circular world carried on the back of four massive elephant that stand on the back of an even more massive turtle. Most books focus on the city of Ankh-Morpork in one regard or another.
"The Colour of Magic" starts in Ankh-Morpork with the single most inept wizard, or "Wizzard" as his hat says, Rincewind being expelled from Unseen University after 40 years of not learning a single spell. Rincewind is played by the gentleman who once did the voice of Danger Mouse and Count Duckula.
Rincewind soon encounters a tourist known as Two Flower. Two Flower comes from the Counterweight Continent on the other side of the disk. It's made of a great deal of gold so as to act as a better counter to the main continent. Flashing around that much gold means that Rincewind just tries to get his share and vanish before the crowds slaughter Two Flower and take his gold. Two Flower is played by Sean Austin, recently back from his trip to Mordor and back.
What with one thing and another Ankh-Morpork catches fire and our heroes go looking to see the sights somewhere they're less likely to get lynched. They find themselves captured by some dragon lords and escape in a highly truncated sequence. As the dragon they escape on fades into nothingness they fall in the ocean and are nearly washed over the rim. They find their way to a civilization that wants to sacrifice them in the hopes that ... well, they escape onto a space ship that is going over the edge of the rim to find the turtle's gender.
There's a parallel story of a wizard killing his way to the top. But to get ultimate power, and save the world from plunging into a star, he needs all 8 spells in a book called the Octavo. Alas, the 8th spell is hiding in Rincewind's head.
In part/book 2 the spells have remade the Diskworld with Rincewind and Two Flower on it instead of drifting through space. On the way back to Ankh-Morpork they hook up with Cohen the (97 year old) Barbarian. They get back and save the Diskworld.
Of the whole series of Diskworld books these two are the weakest. They're also the first. This show does much better with the story but there's still value in reading the book.
Friday, March 28, 2008
No, really
As a computer tech it often falls to me to haul around computers and monitors. And it falls to the people who use those machines to run around looking for a cart or something so I won't hurt myself hauling this big, heavy, but-not-as-heavy-as-it-looks equipment. I try to explain that this stuff isn't all that heavy to me. Heavy is dragging a plow across the yard. Heavy is the last few bales of alfalfa on the trailer after you've just cleared a field of them.
As I'm bringing order to my house I found a photo album from back when cameras used film. I had to bring it in to prove to people that I'm not exaggerating about me and farm work.
As I'm bringing order to my house I found a photo album from back when cameras used film. I had to bring it in to prove to people that I'm not exaggerating about me and farm work.
Thursday, March 27, 2008
Where are you
It's been one of those mornings. I don't feel like typing anything.
So, for those of you who are reading this at what the hit counter registers as two in the morning, where are you? I know I have at least one reader in India. She's a looker, too.
Also, unleaded gasoline is selling for US$3.35/gallon. Luckily I don't use gasoline. What does petrol cost where you are?
So, for those of you who are reading this at what the hit counter registers as two in the morning, where are you? I know I have at least one reader in India. She's a looker, too.
Also, unleaded gasoline is selling for US$3.35/gallon. Luckily I don't use gasoline. What does petrol cost where you are?
Wednesday, March 26, 2008
Game review: Leisure Suit Larry: Magna Cum Laude
When I was a kid there were two game companies worth mention. There was Atari and there was Sierra. Sierra rocked. They had the King's Quest series, Space Quest series, Police Quest series, the Leisure Suit Larry series, and a few others I'm sure I'm missing. They had a formula that was great and sold well. Most any geek my age knows who Roberta Williams (game writer at Sierra) was. A friend of mine called the help number often enough that they knew each other by first name.
In these games you were a pixelated, 16 color character. You roamed around the world picking up items and trying to figure out how to use them to get other things. Get the feather, the cat fur, the oatmeal, and the wand, get into the basement while the wizard was away, make the cookie that turns the wizard into a cat so you can get kidnapped by pirates who take you to...
They were problem solving games. It required a certain kind of reasoning that appealed to people who later became programmers.
Leisure Suit Larry had the added appeal of having you drive a wanna-be womanizer and the promise of pixelated, 16 color, scantly clad women. There were three Larry games before Sierra dropped it. The demand never died.
As game systems evolved newer "King's Quest" games came out, but they were lacking somehow. Typing in commands was part of the appeal. Clicking wasn't the same. But they made an honest attempt to stick to the old format.
A couple years back they released another "Leisure Suit Larry" game. The reviews were universally bad. But with the PS3 out the price of PS2 games is dropping. I got it for a few bucks. Naturally the graphics are much improved. The game play, however, was not.
Before you had to explore and solve puzzles to get things to impress the women.
Now you go talk to the woman and play one of 4 mini-games.
There's a side scroller where you navigate a sperm to hit green markers and avoid red ones.
There's a button masher where you have to press a button as an icon passes over a dot. Kind of a "Dance Dance Revolution" idea.
There's a button masher where you have to press a button as it flashes on the screen.
And there's quarters, where you pull the joystick back so far and then forward so far to toss a coin.
It's those 4 games over and over and over again.
There's a couple of other games. There's a pong type game for extra confidence points and there's a game where you pass out flyers to four rows of advancing people for extra money. But they, too, get old fast.
The loading sequences take forever, but during those scenes they show either the digital women you're supposed to seduce in provocative poses or else real models based on the women in the game.
In short, don't bother. Sierra should try again but stick closer to the original games. That's what made them big and that's what we want.
In these games you were a pixelated, 16 color character. You roamed around the world picking up items and trying to figure out how to use them to get other things. Get the feather, the cat fur, the oatmeal, and the wand, get into the basement while the wizard was away, make the cookie that turns the wizard into a cat so you can get kidnapped by pirates who take you to...
They were problem solving games. It required a certain kind of reasoning that appealed to people who later became programmers.
Leisure Suit Larry had the added appeal of having you drive a wanna-be womanizer and the promise of pixelated, 16 color, scantly clad women. There were three Larry games before Sierra dropped it. The demand never died.
As game systems evolved newer "King's Quest" games came out, but they were lacking somehow. Typing in commands was part of the appeal. Clicking wasn't the same. But they made an honest attempt to stick to the old format.
A couple years back they released another "Leisure Suit Larry" game. The reviews were universally bad. But with the PS3 out the price of PS2 games is dropping. I got it for a few bucks. Naturally the graphics are much improved. The game play, however, was not.
Before you had to explore and solve puzzles to get things to impress the women.
Now you go talk to the woman and play one of 4 mini-games.
There's a side scroller where you navigate a sperm to hit green markers and avoid red ones.
There's a button masher where you have to press a button as an icon passes over a dot. Kind of a "Dance Dance Revolution" idea.
There's a button masher where you have to press a button as it flashes on the screen.
And there's quarters, where you pull the joystick back so far and then forward so far to toss a coin.
It's those 4 games over and over and over again.
There's a couple of other games. There's a pong type game for extra confidence points and there's a game where you pass out flyers to four rows of advancing people for extra money. But they, too, get old fast.
The loading sequences take forever, but during those scenes they show either the digital women you're supposed to seduce in provocative poses or else real models based on the women in the game.
In short, don't bother. Sierra should try again but stick closer to the original games. That's what made them big and that's what we want.
Tuesday, March 25, 2008
Movie Review: Horton Hears a Who
"Horton Hears a Who" is clearly a cruel bastardization of a decent children's book. I won't see it. But it's also a movie that's big enough to deserve a review. So I give you a review written by Inomi.
It's safe to say this was not even close to being as execrable as it could have been. In fact, it was actually quite nice and not as overwrought and painfully manic as Jim Carrey's last turn as a Seuss protagonist. I took the girls out to see this after the morning events for Zombie Jesus Day wore off and we were looking for something to do that involved not being in proximity to chocolate for a while.
To be fair, I've read "Horton" to the girls numerous times, and I know it only takes 10-15 minutes to get through the book, even when using my reading-a-book-voice and meter, so it's inevitable that a metric ton of extra content would have to be added to pad the movie out to a requisite 90 minutes or so, and about 80% of it is perfectly fine.
The characterization of Horton is really quite nice, and Carrey does a good job of playing Horton's resoluteness and steadfast personality on its own. Maybe keeping him from actually being /on/ camera is the trick to pulling out a good performance from him.
What makes this movie work is that it really keeps the unnecessary "adult" jokes to a minimum. By "adult", I don't mean inappropriate or obscene, but the unfortunate legacy of "Shrek" where every modern kids movie seems to be intent on tossing in so-clever asides and "over-the-kids-heads" jokes, as if the parents had worse attention spans than their kids. Aside from a few zingers, the movie had a very storybook feel to it, and was better because of it.
An interesting aspect of the movie... there were a few scenes where Horton's imagination takes hold, and it turns into a cell-animated fantasy vision, looking a great deal like the style of the old Chuck Jones "Grinch" cartoon. However, one aside, when Horton is running for the mountaintop to drop off the speck, turns into a 2-minute anime freakout, complete with bad dubbing, huge, glistening eyes, garish colors and everything. It's a completely unexpected trip and the audience sat in stunned silence when it was over. I'm not sure if it was meant to be hilarious or just ridiculously unexpected, and therefore random, therefore appropriately post-ironic, and maybe the mother of all grown-up-targeted movie jokes, but it was extremely weird, for which I can appreciate it on that level, I suppose.
It's safe to say this was not even close to being as execrable as it could have been. In fact, it was actually quite nice and not as overwrought and painfully manic as Jim Carrey's last turn as a Seuss protagonist. I took the girls out to see this after the morning events for Zombie Jesus Day wore off and we were looking for something to do that involved not being in proximity to chocolate for a while.
To be fair, I've read "Horton" to the girls numerous times, and I know it only takes 10-15 minutes to get through the book, even when using my reading-a-book-voice and meter, so it's inevitable that a metric ton of extra content would have to be added to pad the movie out to a requisite 90 minutes or so, and about 80% of it is perfectly fine.
The characterization of Horton is really quite nice, and Carrey does a good job of playing Horton's resoluteness and steadfast personality on its own. Maybe keeping him from actually being /on/ camera is the trick to pulling out a good performance from him.
What makes this movie work is that it really keeps the unnecessary "adult" jokes to a minimum. By "adult", I don't mean inappropriate or obscene, but the unfortunate legacy of "Shrek" where every modern kids movie seems to be intent on tossing in so-clever asides and "over-the-kids-heads" jokes, as if the parents had worse attention spans than their kids. Aside from a few zingers, the movie had a very storybook feel to it, and was better because of it.
An interesting aspect of the movie... there were a few scenes where Horton's imagination takes hold, and it turns into a cell-animated fantasy vision, looking a great deal like the style of the old Chuck Jones "Grinch" cartoon. However, one aside, when Horton is running for the mountaintop to drop off the speck, turns into a 2-minute anime freakout, complete with bad dubbing, huge, glistening eyes, garish colors and everything. It's a completely unexpected trip and the audience sat in stunned silence when it was over. I'm not sure if it was meant to be hilarious or just ridiculously unexpected, and therefore random, therefore appropriately post-ironic, and maybe the mother of all grown-up-targeted movie jokes, but it was extremely weird, for which I can appreciate it on that level, I suppose.
Monday, March 24, 2008
Movie Review: Shutter and horror audio
This movie was barely advertised at all. For some reason the ad in the paper appealed to me. And it wasn't bad. It'd better than many movies in this genre. It's not a slasher flick. But the stuff that creeped me out the most were the sound effects. I'll get to that after the review.
"Shutter" is the story of a photographer and his new bride that take a trip to Japan for a contract photography session. When they look at their honeymoon photos there's weird streaks on most of them. Then on the drive to their new job they hit some woman standing in the middle of the road. More and more photos turn up streaky. One of the husband's big expensive photo sessions is completely ruined. A moving figure in one of the developing photos splashes developer chemicals in the husband's eyes. Still, he refuses to believe there's a problem. Eventually the wife's investigations reveal that the spirit is that of one of her husband's ex-girlfriends. Is she a jealous ex trying to drive off the new wife or a wronged woman trying to warn off the next victim?
It's not a bad movie. It's just the season that there's nothing much better to see. Will not get on DVD. Best seen in a second run theatre.
Now, uh, the sound effects. Go back several years. 2002 or 3. I was playing "Thief 2", one of the best computer games ever. Even my parrot loves this game. There's one level with a haunted library. As I crept through the secret passage toward that room a breezy, whispering, mumbling, groaning sound got louder and louder. It was really creeping me out. I armed up, saved my game, and opened the door. It was a library. Rows upon rows of shelves. Rows upon rows of blind corners that could be hiding anything. The sound continued. A light, transparent figured moved up on the second level. I started down the carpeted path. My parrot was on my shoulder staring intently at the screen. Step by careful step I moved along, trying not to draw the attention of the thing on the next level and watching the shelves for something to step out. But nothing did. Instead it materialized about six inches from my face. Gandolf screamed and flew off. I screamed and knocked over my chair. By the time I got back the apparition was gone.
Later I called up my girlfriend at the time. I knew she was at work. I wanted her answering machine. I placed the phone by the speaker and let it run for 30 seconds or so before hanging up. Aaaanyway, I'm single now. But she was thoroughly freaked out just by that one clip of audio.
A few years later I was in my new house and Halloween was coming. I moved my old computer by the window, played the game to that room on that level, stuffed the character where I knew he wouldn't get hurt, and dropped the speakers out the window. Then I watched the reaction of people on the sidewalk. Adults slowed and then hurried away. High school girls bickered about who would have to approach the house first. One little boy, 5 years old or so, froze about half way between the gate and the house.
There were a couple of scenes in the movie that had sound effects much like in the game. Those were the creepiest part of the movie.
"Shutter" is the story of a photographer and his new bride that take a trip to Japan for a contract photography session. When they look at their honeymoon photos there's weird streaks on most of them. Then on the drive to their new job they hit some woman standing in the middle of the road. More and more photos turn up streaky. One of the husband's big expensive photo sessions is completely ruined. A moving figure in one of the developing photos splashes developer chemicals in the husband's eyes. Still, he refuses to believe there's a problem. Eventually the wife's investigations reveal that the spirit is that of one of her husband's ex-girlfriends. Is she a jealous ex trying to drive off the new wife or a wronged woman trying to warn off the next victim?
It's not a bad movie. It's just the season that there's nothing much better to see. Will not get on DVD. Best seen in a second run theatre.
Now, uh, the sound effects. Go back several years. 2002 or 3. I was playing "Thief 2", one of the best computer games ever. Even my parrot loves this game. There's one level with a haunted library. As I crept through the secret passage toward that room a breezy, whispering, mumbling, groaning sound got louder and louder. It was really creeping me out. I armed up, saved my game, and opened the door. It was a library. Rows upon rows of shelves. Rows upon rows of blind corners that could be hiding anything. The sound continued. A light, transparent figured moved up on the second level. I started down the carpeted path. My parrot was on my shoulder staring intently at the screen. Step by careful step I moved along, trying not to draw the attention of the thing on the next level and watching the shelves for something to step out. But nothing did. Instead it materialized about six inches from my face. Gandolf screamed and flew off. I screamed and knocked over my chair. By the time I got back the apparition was gone.
Later I called up my girlfriend at the time. I knew she was at work. I wanted her answering machine. I placed the phone by the speaker and let it run for 30 seconds or so before hanging up. Aaaanyway, I'm single now. But she was thoroughly freaked out just by that one clip of audio.
A few years later I was in my new house and Halloween was coming. I moved my old computer by the window, played the game to that room on that level, stuffed the character where I knew he wouldn't get hurt, and dropped the speakers out the window. Then I watched the reaction of people on the sidewalk. Adults slowed and then hurried away. High school girls bickered about who would have to approach the house first. One little boy, 5 years old or so, froze about half way between the gate and the house.
There were a couple of scenes in the movie that had sound effects much like in the game. Those were the creepiest part of the movie.
Friday, March 21, 2008
Equinox
Stuff to say... sigh. Ok, I got it.
Tomorrow (arguably today) is the Equinox. That is the sun should be passing over the equator today. If you're plotting out the sun's path to make an analemma tomorrow is the day that the figure 8 should cross. It's also the ancient pagan holiday that was chosen to be converted to Easter as the Christians took over. But where we can say pretty confidently that Jesus wasn't born on Christmas we can't be as sure that Easter wasn't when Jesus was nailed to a plank.
Ok, that was short. As long as I'm on the subject of crucifying people let me clarify something about that. We've long been taught that Jesus was make to drag his cross up to where he'd get nailed to it. That's not quite how it worked. When crucifying people they'd tie the cross beam to the condemned and make them carry that to where the vertical beam was already waiting.
Tomorrow (arguably today) is the Equinox. That is the sun should be passing over the equator today. If you're plotting out the sun's path to make an analemma tomorrow is the day that the figure 8 should cross. It's also the ancient pagan holiday that was chosen to be converted to Easter as the Christians took over. But where we can say pretty confidently that Jesus wasn't born on Christmas we can't be as sure that Easter wasn't when Jesus was nailed to a plank.
Ok, that was short. As long as I'm on the subject of crucifying people let me clarify something about that. We've long been taught that Jesus was make to drag his cross up to where he'd get nailed to it. That's not quite how it worked. When crucifying people they'd tie the cross beam to the condemned and make them carry that to where the vertical beam was already waiting.
Thursday, March 20, 2008
Fan art
I read a lot on online cartoons. Among them is "Happysad". The art is simple, but clean. The theme runs along one central character and his unrequited love.
The artist for "Happysad" is feeling burned out and planned a vacation. I suggested that he put out the call for fan art to fill the space. He loved the idea so I whipped out a comic.
Today he made the call for fan art and used my cartoon to kick things off.
http://www.kartoen.be/wp/2008/03/19/call-for-fan-art/
The artist for "Happysad" is feeling burned out and planned a vacation. I suggested that he put out the call for fan art to fill the space. He loved the idea so I whipped out a comic.
Today he made the call for fan art and used my cartoon to kick things off.
http://www.kartoen.be/wp/2008/03/19/call-for-fan-art/
Wednesday, March 19, 2008
ngh
"ngh"
That was my initial response. Once I got a chance to contemplate a bit more I went on to add...
"guh"
Arthur C Clarke just died.
"sigh"
I just looked through my library. It's kind of depressing how little of it has Clarke's name on it. I know I have more than I'm seeing. Much of what I am pulling up is probably Dad's stuff. The stuff I'm not seeing is probably at his house. Looking at his list of works I see that there's a LOT of books of his that I KNOW are here somewhere.
Arthur C Clarke wasn't just another science fiction writer. Forget his age and the fact that most modern science fiction writers grew up reading his stuff. Clarke was an inventor, a philosopher, and a damn good writer in any genre. He joined Walter Cronkite as commentator for the moon shots in the 60's. One of his books "Songs of Distant Earth" was the inspiration for an album of the same name. What we call "science fiction" is usually "space fantasy". He helped put the science in science fiction. As we move into space his name will be used for naming ships, colonies, and structures more than almost anyone. He already has an asteroid, two awards, a Martian probe, a dinosaur, and an orbit named for him. The third movie adaptation of one of his books is in pre-production and will probably spawn 3 sequels if it gets done.
For all intents and purposes he invented the communications satellite. He popularized the concept, did the math, and calculated the orbit necessary to put a satellite in stationary orbit around the Earth. It's called Geosynchronous Orbit or Clarke Orbit. All our TV signals, much of our cross country phone traffic, and no small part of our internet traffic runs through a halo of electronics 35,786 km (22,240 miles) over the equator.
He came up with the idea for a space elevator in his book "The Fountains of Paradise". He thought it, more than the communication satellite, would be his lasting legacy to the world. I believe it's what will finally make space travel commonplace. It's a cable of carbon nanotubules that will reach down from Clarke Orbit and allow an elevator to climb it into orbit. It would reduce the cost of taking stuff into space to just a couple pennies for each dollar now spent.
I think the first will come down in the Indian Ocean near Clarke's adopted home in Sri Lanka and will be called Clarke Tower or something similar.
Clarke suffered from the after effects of polio. In 1954, while scuba diving off the coast of Sri Lanka, he discovered that he could still move normally underwater. He moved there in 1956 and remained an avid scuba diver until late in life.
Personally, it took me a long time to discover Clarke's writings. I made the mistake of watching "2001: A Space Odyssey" first. It's a great movie and a great cure for insomnia. I blamed the slow, plodding nature of the movie on the author instead of the director. When I first read something of his, a short story I think, it was good enough for me to consider giving him another chance.
Arthur C Clarke was 90 years old. He died in a hospital in Sri Lanka following respiratory difficulties.
As prolific as he was he may well still be putting out books when I'm 90 years old.
That was my initial response. Once I got a chance to contemplate a bit more I went on to add...
"guh"
Arthur C Clarke just died.
"sigh"
I just looked through my library. It's kind of depressing how little of it has Clarke's name on it. I know I have more than I'm seeing. Much of what I am pulling up is probably Dad's stuff. The stuff I'm not seeing is probably at his house. Looking at his list of works I see that there's a LOT of books of his that I KNOW are here somewhere.
Arthur C Clarke wasn't just another science fiction writer. Forget his age and the fact that most modern science fiction writers grew up reading his stuff. Clarke was an inventor, a philosopher, and a damn good writer in any genre. He joined Walter Cronkite as commentator for the moon shots in the 60's. One of his books "Songs of Distant Earth" was the inspiration for an album of the same name. What we call "science fiction" is usually "space fantasy". He helped put the science in science fiction. As we move into space his name will be used for naming ships, colonies, and structures more than almost anyone. He already has an asteroid, two awards, a Martian probe, a dinosaur, and an orbit named for him. The third movie adaptation of one of his books is in pre-production and will probably spawn 3 sequels if it gets done.
For all intents and purposes he invented the communications satellite. He popularized the concept, did the math, and calculated the orbit necessary to put a satellite in stationary orbit around the Earth. It's called Geosynchronous Orbit or Clarke Orbit. All our TV signals, much of our cross country phone traffic, and no small part of our internet traffic runs through a halo of electronics 35,786 km (22,240 miles) over the equator.
He came up with the idea for a space elevator in his book "The Fountains of Paradise". He thought it, more than the communication satellite, would be his lasting legacy to the world. I believe it's what will finally make space travel commonplace. It's a cable of carbon nanotubules that will reach down from Clarke Orbit and allow an elevator to climb it into orbit. It would reduce the cost of taking stuff into space to just a couple pennies for each dollar now spent.
I think the first will come down in the Indian Ocean near Clarke's adopted home in Sri Lanka and will be called Clarke Tower or something similar.
Clarke suffered from the after effects of polio. In 1954, while scuba diving off the coast of Sri Lanka, he discovered that he could still move normally underwater. He moved there in 1956 and remained an avid scuba diver until late in life.
Personally, it took me a long time to discover Clarke's writings. I made the mistake of watching "2001: A Space Odyssey" first. It's a great movie and a great cure for insomnia. I blamed the slow, plodding nature of the movie on the author instead of the director. When I first read something of his, a short story I think, it was good enough for me to consider giving him another chance.
Arthur C Clarke was 90 years old. He died in a hospital in Sri Lanka following respiratory difficulties.As prolific as he was he may well still be putting out books when I'm 90 years old.
Tuesday, March 18, 2008
Book Review: The Drawing of the Dark
Some time back My Krodie recommended "The Drawing of the Dark" by Tim Powers. It went in the stack and just got read. Apparently it's something of a classic fantasy that didn't catch on as well as some people think it deserved.
It is a fantasy novel. Instead of creating a new Middle Earth type world that doesn't have much of anything to do with reality, this book takes 1529 Europe and overlays a fantasy world on top of an invasion by Muslims into Vienna.
Our hero is busy going about his life when he's jumped by a band of ruffians in Venice. After fighting them off a strange man offers him a job as a bouncer in Vienna with a handsome salary. He takes the job and finds himself escorted there by a legion of supernatural beings. Eventually his patron makes it to Vienna and starts dropping hints about what's happening.
The Fisher King is sick and dying. He needs beer that has been aged for 700 years over the grave of Finn MacCool to restore him to health. The health of the Fisher King and the lands of the west are linked. As one fails so does the other. So the Muslims of the east want Vienna and the beer destroyed before the beer matures.
Our hero and his patron have lived this cycle over and over in various lives but only the patron is aware of our hero's true identity.
I'm not much of one for fantasy, except humor/fantasy, but it was a good book. If you are a fantasy reader then I recommend adding this to your collection.
It is a fantasy novel. Instead of creating a new Middle Earth type world that doesn't have much of anything to do with reality, this book takes 1529 Europe and overlays a fantasy world on top of an invasion by Muslims into Vienna.
Our hero is busy going about his life when he's jumped by a band of ruffians in Venice. After fighting them off a strange man offers him a job as a bouncer in Vienna with a handsome salary. He takes the job and finds himself escorted there by a legion of supernatural beings. Eventually his patron makes it to Vienna and starts dropping hints about what's happening.
The Fisher King is sick and dying. He needs beer that has been aged for 700 years over the grave of Finn MacCool to restore him to health. The health of the Fisher King and the lands of the west are linked. As one fails so does the other. So the Muslims of the east want Vienna and the beer destroyed before the beer matures.
Our hero and his patron have lived this cycle over and over in various lives but only the patron is aware of our hero's true identity.
I'm not much of one for fantasy, except humor/fantasy, but it was a good book. If you are a fantasy reader then I recommend adding this to your collection.
Monday, March 17, 2008
Haircut
I got a haircut last weekend. It turned out a bit shorter than I liked. I threw on my coat and headed out the door. I saw myself reflected in the glass and smiled. 
One thing about the new Doctor Who incarnations is that it's a lot easier to make up a costume. One haircut and a shave and I'm almost there. Only they have a better lighting technician.
The thing is that I know how I tend to dress and how I tend to keep my hair. With the suits I've been looking at lately I'm much more likely to end up looking like this.
And once I get old enough so my Segway becomes too tricky to manage you know I'll get one of these.
What? An electric wheelchair with a Segway motor, a bit of cosmetic work, and it shouldn't be hard to incorporate a computer. As long as I have a wi-fi signal I'm at work anywhere in the world.
One thing about the new Doctor Who incarnations is that it's a lot easier to make up a costume. One haircut and a shave and I'm almost there. Only they have a better lighting technician.The thing is that I know how I tend to dress and how I tend to keep my hair. With the suits I've been looking at lately I'm much more likely to end up looking like this.
And once I get old enough so my Segway becomes too tricky to manage you know I'll get one of these.
What? An electric wheelchair with a Segway motor, a bit of cosmetic work, and it shouldn't be hard to incorporate a computer. As long as I have a wi-fi signal I'm at work anywhere in the world.
Friday, March 14, 2008
Movie Review: Doomsday
I saw more ads for this movie than trailers. The trailers weren't at all promising. If I were paying money I wouldn't have seen it. But it was free. And it turned out to be much better than I expected.
"Doomsday" is basically "Escape From Northern Ireland". In April of 2008 a new virus named "Reaper" appears in England. It's extremely contagious and very gross. People start dropping like flies. Limited containment is tried but eventually they have to build a couple of walls across the middle of the England and leave the northern half of the island to die off.
It's now 2035. A police raid in London reveals a roomful of people dying from Reaper. There's some clearly idiotic "evacuation" of London into an island in the middle of London. So now there's a severely overcrowded part of London and a virus. They explain why there's an island in the middle of London and it kinds makes sense. Most of the other plot holes don't get addressed.
Three years ago satellite footage showed some people in the streets of one of the northern cities. They thought everyone was long dead by now. Where there's people there must be a cure. A hot warrior woman is selected to lead an expedition. A bunch of other people are selected to go along to die in a variety of unpleasant ways. They're driving NBCs (a heavily armored military vehicle) and wearing battle isolation suits. (a what now?) Yeah, I know.
Figuring that the scientist who was working on a cure way back when, and who they sealed in the north, must have succeeded they go to his hospital. They drive all the way there without seeing anyone. They wander through the hospital checking room by room without seeing anyone. Not even signs of recent human activity. And then WHAM! People pouring out of every shadow. Hundreds of them and all from a Mad Max flick. How the hell did this many people hide from satellites for this long? Both NBCs, vehicles designed to shake off landmines are taken out by people armed with moltov cocktails and basic archery kit. Our heroes gun down dozens of crazed locals before being overwhelmed.
So our heroine meets the Madmaxians and eventually escapes with the daughter of the scientist she came to find. They catch a train to go find daddy. They take a shortcut through a mountain where I fully expected to find a Balrog. The scientist has moved into an old castle and his people have adopted all the trappings thereof. It was amusing to have a medieval England scene and see the "Gift shop" sign still up and the stained glass windows showing biohazard logos. Our heroine finds herself in the 1530's equivalent of Thunderdome and escapes.
Then there's this pretty awesome road battle when the Madmaxians catch up with the heroine. No, really, primo road battle.
I've given a lot away, but really I haven't. It's reasonably predictable.
The movie starts kinda weak but as it moves on it gets better. Part of it is just being able to settle back and enjoy. Part of it is the director getting into the swing of things as the movie progresses. Part of it is the fact that it's a horror movie on one side of the wall and a post-apocalypse action movie on the other. The folks in the north still have a sense of humor.
I'm glad I saw it and would probably rent it again to sit around and watch with friends. But I have no need to get it on DVD.
"Doomsday" is basically "Escape From Northern Ireland". In April of 2008 a new virus named "Reaper" appears in England. It's extremely contagious and very gross. People start dropping like flies. Limited containment is tried but eventually they have to build a couple of walls across the middle of the England and leave the northern half of the island to die off.
It's now 2035. A police raid in London reveals a roomful of people dying from Reaper. There's some clearly idiotic "evacuation" of London into an island in the middle of London. So now there's a severely overcrowded part of London and a virus. They explain why there's an island in the middle of London and it kinds makes sense. Most of the other plot holes don't get addressed.
Three years ago satellite footage showed some people in the streets of one of the northern cities. They thought everyone was long dead by now. Where there's people there must be a cure. A hot warrior woman is selected to lead an expedition. A bunch of other people are selected to go along to die in a variety of unpleasant ways. They're driving NBCs (a heavily armored military vehicle) and wearing battle isolation suits. (a what now?) Yeah, I know.
Figuring that the scientist who was working on a cure way back when, and who they sealed in the north, must have succeeded they go to his hospital. They drive all the way there without seeing anyone. They wander through the hospital checking room by room without seeing anyone. Not even signs of recent human activity. And then WHAM! People pouring out of every shadow. Hundreds of them and all from a Mad Max flick. How the hell did this many people hide from satellites for this long? Both NBCs, vehicles designed to shake off landmines are taken out by people armed with moltov cocktails and basic archery kit. Our heroes gun down dozens of crazed locals before being overwhelmed.
So our heroine meets the Madmaxians and eventually escapes with the daughter of the scientist she came to find. They catch a train to go find daddy. They take a shortcut through a mountain where I fully expected to find a Balrog. The scientist has moved into an old castle and his people have adopted all the trappings thereof. It was amusing to have a medieval England scene and see the "Gift shop" sign still up and the stained glass windows showing biohazard logos. Our heroine finds herself in the 1530's equivalent of Thunderdome and escapes.
Then there's this pretty awesome road battle when the Madmaxians catch up with the heroine. No, really, primo road battle.
I've given a lot away, but really I haven't. It's reasonably predictable.
The movie starts kinda weak but as it moves on it gets better. Part of it is just being able to settle back and enjoy. Part of it is the director getting into the swing of things as the movie progresses. Part of it is the fact that it's a horror movie on one side of the wall and a post-apocalypse action movie on the other. The folks in the north still have a sense of humor.
I'm glad I saw it and would probably rent it again to sit around and watch with friends. But I have no need to get it on DVD.
Thursday, March 13, 2008
Movie Review: The Hogfather
By request, I'm responding to this article. http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/03/06/AR2008030601359.html
I touched on this movie before. I guess I didn't review it properly because it had aired in England and my copy wasn't what you'd call "legal". But now the DVD has been released in the United States.
The author of this article bases his complaint on the low budget nature of the film. I honestly don't know what the budget for this movie was. There's a documentary on the storming of Normandy coming out this summer where the beach rush was recreated using only three actors and a computer. Three days of shooting and they made hundreds of people running across the beach and scaling cliffs. You can't tell it from a Spielberg flick with hundreds of extras. Budget has little to do with anything these days if you know what you're doing.
The Brits are masters of low budget. Classic Dr. Who looks like they spent more on tea than on sets but they still got me to hide behind the couch. The play "Our Town" uses only a ladder for a prop. A good story and a good actor can cover any budget shortfall.
The point is that it doesn't really look low budget. The writer says "I should note that my 8-year-old son ran screaming from the room in terror after 15 minutes." That right there should tell you what a good job they did with it. It wasn't even Death or the Boar/Santa that did it. It was just a creepy actor with a milky eye.
Any problems with this film had more to do with time constraints than with a money shortage. Or, perhaps even just an inherent problem translating this particular book to film.
Take the "Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy". It was a brilliant radio show that became an equally brilliant book. However, adapting it to the screen was hindered by the fact that so much of the humor is involved with the descriptions and the narration. Similarly with "The Hogfather" there's background and explanation needed for certain things. The wizards of unseen university lose much of their quality babble. The relevance of a shower built by Bloody Stupid Johnson is lost completely. Without the descriptions the whole scene is shot. You can piece together the Assassins Guild but why do the Auditors want Santa dead? Why do all these other imaginary creatures suddenly come into being? Why does Death take the role of Santa/Hogfather? How is this Susan girl Death's granddaughter? Some of this is explained or at least hinted at but it's done very quietly. Really, that's my biggest complaint. The whole movie is done quietly. Go ahead. Crank the volume. It doesn't help. It's still quiet.
The thing is that the movie is directed toward the huge Discworld fan base. Most people watching it are gonna know the story already. If you didn't know who Jesus was you're not gonna understand Mel Gibson's "Passionate Beating of Some Skinny Guy". The movie ends with the deceased walking around naked with holes in his hands. It looks like a prequel to "Night of the Living Dead". The fans of "The Bible" are gonna get it but the rest aren't. Same story with "The Hogfather". If you're not a fan you're gonna struggle.
For the problems this movie had I'm still looking forward to the next one. A "The Colour of Magic" movie is in the works.
That's right, I compared a Discworld book to "The Bible". I could probably also make an arguement that the Discworld books have a better message.
Now go read my last post on this movie.
http://dougintology.blogspot.com/2007/01/santa-claus.html
And if you want to look into Discworld books I'd suggest starting with "Mort". The books don't have to go in order. Starting at the beginning is a mistake. "Mort" is one of the best jumping off points.
I touched on this movie before. I guess I didn't review it properly because it had aired in England and my copy wasn't what you'd call "legal". But now the DVD has been released in the United States.
The author of this article bases his complaint on the low budget nature of the film. I honestly don't know what the budget for this movie was. There's a documentary on the storming of Normandy coming out this summer where the beach rush was recreated using only three actors and a computer. Three days of shooting and they made hundreds of people running across the beach and scaling cliffs. You can't tell it from a Spielberg flick with hundreds of extras. Budget has little to do with anything these days if you know what you're doing.
The Brits are masters of low budget. Classic Dr. Who looks like they spent more on tea than on sets but they still got me to hide behind the couch. The play "Our Town" uses only a ladder for a prop. A good story and a good actor can cover any budget shortfall.
The point is that it doesn't really look low budget. The writer says "I should note that my 8-year-old son ran screaming from the room in terror after 15 minutes." That right there should tell you what a good job they did with it. It wasn't even Death or the Boar/Santa that did it. It was just a creepy actor with a milky eye.
Any problems with this film had more to do with time constraints than with a money shortage. Or, perhaps even just an inherent problem translating this particular book to film.
Take the "Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy". It was a brilliant radio show that became an equally brilliant book. However, adapting it to the screen was hindered by the fact that so much of the humor is involved with the descriptions and the narration. Similarly with "The Hogfather" there's background and explanation needed for certain things. The wizards of unseen university lose much of their quality babble. The relevance of a shower built by Bloody Stupid Johnson is lost completely. Without the descriptions the whole scene is shot. You can piece together the Assassins Guild but why do the Auditors want Santa dead? Why do all these other imaginary creatures suddenly come into being? Why does Death take the role of Santa/Hogfather? How is this Susan girl Death's granddaughter? Some of this is explained or at least hinted at but it's done very quietly. Really, that's my biggest complaint. The whole movie is done quietly. Go ahead. Crank the volume. It doesn't help. It's still quiet.
The thing is that the movie is directed toward the huge Discworld fan base. Most people watching it are gonna know the story already. If you didn't know who Jesus was you're not gonna understand Mel Gibson's "Passionate Beating of Some Skinny Guy". The movie ends with the deceased walking around naked with holes in his hands. It looks like a prequel to "Night of the Living Dead". The fans of "The Bible" are gonna get it but the rest aren't. Same story with "The Hogfather". If you're not a fan you're gonna struggle.
For the problems this movie had I'm still looking forward to the next one. A "The Colour of Magic" movie is in the works.
That's right, I compared a Discworld book to "The Bible". I could probably also make an arguement that the Discworld books have a better message.
Now go read my last post on this movie.
http://dougintology.blogspot.com/2007/01/santa-claus.html
And if you want to look into Discworld books I'd suggest starting with "Mort". The books don't have to go in order. Starting at the beginning is a mistake. "Mort" is one of the best jumping off points.
Wednesday, March 12, 2008
Book Review: The Ig Nobel Prizes
This falls under the category of bathroom literature. Not that the contents are particularly low brow. I mean that each section is just a couple of pages.
The Ig Nobel awards are awarded each year to reward the strangest, silliest, or just plain screwed up research done each year. It's hard to explain, really.
Here's the list of winners for 2007
* Aviation: Patricia V. Agostino, Santiago A. Plano and Diego A. Golombek, for discovering that hamsters recover from jetlag more quickly when given Viagra.
* Biology: Johanna E.M.H. van Bronswijk, for taking a census of all the mites and other life forms that live in people's beds.
* Chemistry: Mayu Yamamoto for extracting vanilla flavour from cow dung.
* Economics: Kuo Cheng Hsieh, for patenting a device to catch bank robbers by ensnaring them in a net.[8]
* Linguistics: Juan Manuel Toro, Josep B. Trobalon and Nuria Sebastian-Galles, for determining that rats sometimes can't distinguish between recordings of Japanese and Dutch played backward.
* Literature: Glenda Browne, for her study of the word "the".[9]
* Medicine: Dan Meyer and Brian Witcombe, for investigating the side-effects of swallowing swords.
* Nutrition: Brian Wansink, for investigating people's appetite for mindless eating by secretly feeding them a self-refilling bowl of soup.[10]
* Peace: The Air Force Wright Laboratory in Dayton, Ohio, for suggesting the research and development of a "gay bomb," which would cause enemy troops to become sexually attracted to each other.
* Physics: L. Mahadevan and Enrique Cerda Villablanca for their theoretical study of how sheets become wrinkled.
The awards ceremony is usually broadcast in whole or in part during the "Talk of the Nation: Science Friday" the day after Thanksgiving. (http://www.sciencefriday.com/) Or you can watch the video webcast directly from Improbable Research website. (http://www.improb.com/ig/2007/webcast/)
The appendix lists all the winners. As does the Wikipedia page (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_Ig_Nobel_Prize_winners).
The book just serves to expand upon some of the more interesting or absurd awards over the years.
The Ig Nobel awards are awarded each year to reward the strangest, silliest, or just plain screwed up research done each year. It's hard to explain, really.
Here's the list of winners for 2007
* Aviation: Patricia V. Agostino, Santiago A. Plano and Diego A. Golombek, for discovering that hamsters recover from jetlag more quickly when given Viagra.
* Biology: Johanna E.M.H. van Bronswijk, for taking a census of all the mites and other life forms that live in people's beds.
* Chemistry: Mayu Yamamoto for extracting vanilla flavour from cow dung.
* Economics: Kuo Cheng Hsieh, for patenting a device to catch bank robbers by ensnaring them in a net.[8]
* Linguistics: Juan Manuel Toro, Josep B. Trobalon and Nuria Sebastian-Galles, for determining that rats sometimes can't distinguish between recordings of Japanese and Dutch played backward.
* Literature: Glenda Browne, for her study of the word "the".[9]
* Medicine: Dan Meyer and Brian Witcombe, for investigating the side-effects of swallowing swords.
* Nutrition: Brian Wansink, for investigating people's appetite for mindless eating by secretly feeding them a self-refilling bowl of soup.[10]
* Peace: The Air Force Wright Laboratory in Dayton, Ohio, for suggesting the research and development of a "gay bomb," which would cause enemy troops to become sexually attracted to each other.
* Physics: L. Mahadevan and Enrique Cerda Villablanca for their theoretical study of how sheets become wrinkled.
The awards ceremony is usually broadcast in whole or in part during the "Talk of the Nation: Science Friday" the day after Thanksgiving. (http://www.sciencefriday.com/) Or you can watch the video webcast directly from Improbable Research website. (http://www.improb.com/ig/2007/webcast/)
The appendix lists all the winners. As does the Wikipedia page (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_Ig_Nobel_Prize_winners).
The book just serves to expand upon some of the more interesting or absurd awards over the years.
Tuesday, March 11, 2008
Movie Review: 10,000 BC
I didn't have much idea what to expect going into this movie aside from wild historical inaccuracies.
Up on a snowy mountain top, above the tree line, above the cloud layer, there's a tribe of people who wear dreadlocks and goatees. A herd of woolly mammoths passes by often enough for them to get most of their food from it. On top of a mountain. There's also plenty of firewood lying around. On top of a mountain. Above the tree line. But the mammoths have been passing less often and in fewer numbers. After a blue eyed girl comes the old woman of the village makes a prophecy about four legged demons coming to wipe them out. So the lead hunter leaves to investigate the demons and missing mammoths.
Jump forward 15 years or so. The lead hunter's son kills a mammoth, becomes lead hunter, and wins the heart of the blue eyed girl. Then the village is raided by people on domesticated horses - in the year 10,000 BC - who take several people as slaves, including the blue eyed girl. So lead hunter and a few friends go on a rescue mission. They follow the slavers over some even taller mountains - during the onset of winter - down into the jungle, into the tall grass where they're attacked by Rocs, into the desert where they make friends with people our hero's father once met and he fulfills one of their prophecies, befriends tribes of every race, goes to the river where they just miss sailboats - in the year 10,000 BC - carrying off the slavers. They march through the desert successfully because the lead hunter is the first person to follow a star successfully. They find where Atlanteans, who look like Indians, are building the pyramids using the mammoths and the slaves.
Blah, blah, free the slaves, save the girl, everyone goes home.
The special effects are fine, the mammoths look great, the story would makes Edgar Rice Burroughs proud, but the movie just isn't engaging. Maybe it's because I was on the leading edge of the cold that kept me from posting yesterday. Probably not.
See it at the dollar theater.
Up on a snowy mountain top, above the tree line, above the cloud layer, there's a tribe of people who wear dreadlocks and goatees. A herd of woolly mammoths passes by often enough for them to get most of their food from it. On top of a mountain. There's also plenty of firewood lying around. On top of a mountain. Above the tree line. But the mammoths have been passing less often and in fewer numbers. After a blue eyed girl comes the old woman of the village makes a prophecy about four legged demons coming to wipe them out. So the lead hunter leaves to investigate the demons and missing mammoths.
Jump forward 15 years or so. The lead hunter's son kills a mammoth, becomes lead hunter, and wins the heart of the blue eyed girl. Then the village is raided by people on domesticated horses - in the year 10,000 BC - who take several people as slaves, including the blue eyed girl. So lead hunter and a few friends go on a rescue mission. They follow the slavers over some even taller mountains - during the onset of winter - down into the jungle, into the tall grass where they're attacked by Rocs, into the desert where they make friends with people our hero's father once met and he fulfills one of their prophecies, befriends tribes of every race, goes to the river where they just miss sailboats - in the year 10,000 BC - carrying off the slavers. They march through the desert successfully because the lead hunter is the first person to follow a star successfully. They find where Atlanteans, who look like Indians, are building the pyramids using the mammoths and the slaves.
Blah, blah, free the slaves, save the girl, everyone goes home.
The special effects are fine, the mammoths look great, the story would makes Edgar Rice Burroughs proud, but the movie just isn't engaging. Maybe it's because I was on the leading edge of the cold that kept me from posting yesterday. Probably not.
See it at the dollar theater.
Friday, March 07, 2008
Dougintology Aquisitions Department
Everybody has one of their own, but rarely do you hear anybody mention the defense mechanisms of the young bookshelf. When relocated to a strange and unfamiliar location they begin to produce a noxious odor that can lead to headaches and worse in poorly ventilated rooms. Be sure to give your new shelves some time alone to adjust to it's new surroundings before loading it with books.
With the addition of the attic the room with the newly exposed brick wall and bamboo floors gets converted from storage room to library. I have moved many of the more portable bookshelves in there and filled them. More shelves are clearly necessary. So I ordered these.
They are viewed here in part of my office. I supposed I should clarify that mine are the spiffy Tetris looking things and not the boring shelves lining the walls.
I've closed the door to that room and opened the windows in there. I'm pretty sure I would have passed out by the end of the day otherwise.
It's not formaldehyde like we first thought. It's been treated so it doesn't off-gas formaldehyde. Instead they rubbed linseed oil on it and THAT's what's making the place smell.
With the addition of the attic the room with the newly exposed brick wall and bamboo floors gets converted from storage room to library. I have moved many of the more portable bookshelves in there and filled them. More shelves are clearly necessary. So I ordered these.
They are viewed here in part of my office. I supposed I should clarify that mine are the spiffy Tetris looking things and not the boring shelves lining the walls.
I've closed the door to that room and opened the windows in there. I'm pretty sure I would have passed out by the end of the day otherwise.
It's not formaldehyde like we first thought. It's been treated so it doesn't off-gas formaldehyde. Instead they rubbed linseed oil on it and THAT's what's making the place smell.
Thursday, March 06, 2008
You are in a 6x2 chamber. It is dark.
I am not a huge gamer. I've been involved in a few games of D&D, as well as some of the games inspired by D&D, but I don't even have my own dice. Being that as it may I have to mention the passing of Gary Gygax Tuesday.
Gary Gygax was the principle creator of the role playing game "Dungeons and Dragons". In this role he became the father of modern gaming and grandfather of a wide swath of computer gaming. Without him there probably would never have been the "Final Fantasy" and "Phantasy Star" series of games or the "World of Warcraft" and "Everquest" games, and, of course, all the related games. In any programming class there were always a few people who had to write a program to generate characters for their favorite role playing game.
His games provided a means of social interaction for millions of social outcasts and provided a community for them. Thousands of people credit him for helping them become doctors, lawyers, police officers and more.
I may not feel his passing as acutely as I did the passing of Douglas Adams or Jim Henson but I know many people who do. I want to join with them in praising his contributions and mourning his passing.
from Penny Arcade
from Nodwick who pulled it from ... someone else.
from Order of the Stick
from Dork Tower
And don't forget the tribute by Wil Wheaton at http://wilwheaton.typepad.com/wwdnbackup/2008/03/across-the-sea.html
Gary Gygax was the principle creator of the role playing game "Dungeons and Dragons". In this role he became the father of modern gaming and grandfather of a wide swath of computer gaming. Without him there probably would never have been the "Final Fantasy" and "Phantasy Star" series of games or the "World of Warcraft" and "Everquest" games, and, of course, all the related games. In any programming class there were always a few people who had to write a program to generate characters for their favorite role playing game.
His games provided a means of social interaction for millions of social outcasts and provided a community for them. Thousands of people credit him for helping them become doctors, lawyers, police officers and more.
I may not feel his passing as acutely as I did the passing of Douglas Adams or Jim Henson but I know many people who do. I want to join with them in praising his contributions and mourning his passing.
from Penny Arcade
from Nodwick who pulled it from ... someone else.
from Order of the Stick
from Dork TowerAnd don't forget the tribute by Wil Wheaton at http://wilwheaton.typepad.com/wwdnbackup/2008/03/across-the-sea.html
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