When Shitty B-Grade Movies Get Something Right

Slasher movies. I'm not a big fan of the genre. I have better things to do than watch a number of oh-so-pretty people do stupid shit that means a 'psychotic' killer will kill them in a number of semi-creative ways. (Honestly, in some slasher movies, the killer's probably the only sane one in a world gone mad. But I digress.) But the one thing that really narks me about slasher movies is the assumption that being a psychotic serial killer somehow endows someone with immense physical prowess.

The act of donning a mask (it's usually a mask), a long-flowing jacket (or in the case of Scream, a robe kinda thing) and carrying a big knife somehow means you can move faster than people can see, you can wrestle anyone into submission (before you stab 'em, natch) or climb things that really shouldn't be climbable. Which is a genre convention I find immensely difficult to swallow.

Now, there was a slasher movie called 'Wishcraft' on cable last night, and it was playing in the background at work. Near as I could tell, it was about a kid who received a mysterious totem thingy in the mail, with a note attached saying it granted him three wishes. So he wished to go out with a cheerleader at his high school... the same time a psychotic killer starts murdering high school kids around the place. Who is incredibly strong, can get into stupidly inaccessible places without anyone noticing, so on and so forth.

And when the denoument comes, the psychotic killer is the one who sent the kid the box - and has already used his wishes to get his superpowers. And I was really impressed that the premise meant the psychotic killer could be the usual stupidly unbelievable 'psycho' actually made sense to act like he was!

So while it was nothing more than a slasher movie with a little extra hint of morality tale, I still enjoyed what I saw of it. And seeing the slasher, after stabbing a random victim, pulling out a full-on sword was a refreshing change as well. :)

Just thought I'd say.

What Makes Life 100%?

Ever wonder about those people who say they are giving more than 100%?
We have all been to those meetings where someone wants over 100%.
How about achieving 103%? Here's a little math that might prove helpful.

What makes life 100%?
If
A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W X Y Z is represented
as:
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26.

Then,

H A R D W O R K
8 1 18 4 23 15 18 11 = 98%

K N O W L E D G E
11 14 15 23 12 5 4 7 5 = 96%

But,

A T T I T U D E
1 20 20 9 20 21 4 5 = 100%

And,

B U L L S H I T
2 21 12 12 19 8 9 20 = 103%

So, it stands to reason that hardwork and knowledge will get you close, attitude will get you there, but bullshit will put you over the top.

And look how far .........

A S S K I S S I N G
1 19 19 11 9 19 19 9 14 7 = 118%

will take you.

heh

Moi

Your Ultimate Roleplaying Purity Score
Category	Your Score	Average
Hacklust	37.74% Has conversations in between massacres	53.3%
Sensitive Roleplaying	63.29% Will talk after everyone important's been killed	54%
GM Experience	71.01% Ran a module once or twice	69.1%
Systems Knowledge	90.25% Played in a couple of campaigns	90.1%
Livin' La Vida Dorka	40.23% Has interesting conversations in public	62.8%
You are 64.07% pure Average Score: 68.4%
Take The Ultimate Roleplaying Purity Test and see how you match up!

Looked high and low for the "sets up simple straight-foreward two hour adventure and watches in horror as PC's career not only off the beaten path but into the orbit of a planet three dimensions away", but alas it wasn't there...

It Had To Happen.

Your Ultimate Roleplaying Purity Score
Category	Your Score	Average
Hacklust	44.34% Will kill for XP	53.3%
Sensitive Roleplaying	50.63% "But what's my motivation for this scene?"	54%
GM Experience	56.52% Puts the players through the wringer	69.1%
Systems Knowledge	82.49% Played in a couple of campaigns	90.1%
Livin' La Vida Dorka	49.43% Has interesting conversations in public	62.8%
You are 59.35% pure Average Score: 68.4%
Take The Ultimate Roleplaying Purity Test and see how you match up!

"Puts players through the wringer." Hah. As if.

What's Your DigiIQ?

Test it here.

Stupid, Stupid Judge.

OK, It might sound like I'm just bashing the legal system more but...

Though I don't know all the facts it appears to me there's a judge out there who is seriosly in need of an ass kicking, and for once I'm tempted to do it. I am not a violent person by nature, but this twit is obviosly a moron and has allready given me a wy out of any charges.... suply me with alcohol.

For those not up to date with current affairs during the week just gone a man was aquitted of the crime of indesent dealings (I don't know exactly what he did nor do I realy want to) with an ELEVEN (11) year old girl, as he was found to be too drunk to be considered responsible for his actions. I don't think I need dwell on this level of stupidity, how can such a concept be justified. I feel stupider just for hearing it actualy happend.

Now that the precident has been set (and IMHO at least 100 years of legal system and evolution have gone down the drain) I would like to know if a: those seeking retribution for the crime can do so if they get significantly drunk at the time and get off sighting precidence, and, b: can you still be done for drink driving ("Sorry officer but I wouldn't be drink driving if I wasn't so drunk").

So for the first time I think we have a winner for the (drum roll..........) "Rappo's Asshole of the Week Award". This week it goes to the idiot judge who let such a defence stand (unsure of the twits name), lets all hope the moron gets punched in the face realy hard by a drunk guy who gets off on the precident they set.



(No, realy I want to know if I can sight this and get off criminal charges, think of all the dunken fun that could be had- mwahhahahahahahahahahahaha - lets go start a riot in the Queen St mall, maybe even do some cristmas "shopping" - AKA looting)

What Does Spike Jonze Really Think?

Check out An Interview with Spike Jonze.

And remember. The camera's rolling.

Have You Ever...

Have you ever found yourself coming up with a quip you're really proud of but never get a chance to say because the leading question is never asked?
I just had one of those moments...

James A: yep - this is Boxing Day release - am thinking we have to make it third year in a row :)

also - are you interested in trying to find out if/where the Extended Editions are being shown on the big screen?
Josh: Uh.... mildly... but I don't fancy spending eight hours watching them all in a cinema....

So, naturally, I was waiting for him to question me... ideally, along the lines of "Why would you want to know if you don't want to watch them?"

So I could off-handedly reply, "So I can say, 'Oh, by the way, they're showing the Extended Editions on the big screen at [fill in the blank]' and make all the ladies swoon with my geeky knowledge."

But, of course, he never did, so now instead of an amusing remark, that line now stands as testament to the world that I think way too much about some things. Oh, and that I'm a very sad person.

Go on, shoo. Chortle to yourself about how superior you are. See if I care. Mongrel.

The ACCC are definently the good guys, even if they can't get that judges head out of his own ass

Ok, for those who don't know it is now illegal in australia to have a mod chip installed in you playstation as the previos rulling (were the ACCC kicked sony out of court) has now been overturned. Our legal system sucks. Now though it is true that modchips allow the use of illegaly copied games, they also allow the use of imported games, as sony - being the evil pricks they are - have region coding in they're games, ever since the original Playstation. I am actually fairly sure they came up with the system, which has now been adopted by the film industry for DVDs. Now I am of course a big fan of the Playstion and PS2 but I still think sony are being evil pricks. Mandatory quote time the following snippets are from the Australian Financial Review article ACCC attacks Sony victory.


"The ACCC believes region coding is detrimental to consumers as it severely limits their choice and, in some cases, access to competitively priced goods,"


The "chipping" case also attracted the attention of the Office of the US Trade Representative earlier this year. In March, it noted the US motion picture industry was "increasingly concerned" about Australian law at that time as it allowed the legal modification of DVD players in Australia.

According to legal sources, Sony's victory might mean the modification of DVD players is now also illegal.


Fun Fun fun. So there we have it. Now correct me if I'm wrong but we do have laws against anti-comptitive behavior don't we?? Also if you can't chip a PS2 or PS1, you can't play backup's of original games you own, and I mean BACKUP's, not Illegal copies. Form an article on ZNET sony have told us we do not have the right to backup the software they produce, this seems a bit rude to me, as I'm sure if a disk got dammaged they wouldn't replace it, we've seen that before with DVD's that suffer for DVD rot. The maufacturer will not replace the defective media, and I'm sure sony wouldn't either.
Parallel importing of music was a great thing as it did drop prices, but while Region coding exists, it's not plausable for either for PS1/PS2 or DVD.
What I would like to see about now is a consumer group attempt to sue Sony or force them to produce Pre-chipped PS1/PS2's (even if they stick with no backups, removing the region coding would be good). Now in my oppinion, a attack like this sould win, as it otherwise would be anti-competitive. Once this is done we could send a consumer group against the film industry to deal with the DVD regioning.


The case was given to sony as their region coding also prevents piracy as it creates a barrier to useing illegal copies. I think it is important to note that such resoning could also be used to remove CD and DVD burners form the shelves. Backups can be created on tape, large files could be moved on thumb drives. Only certain regestereg companys would be allowed to own or use burners, you bring in the thumb drive(s) or tape and they produce a CD or DVD for you. Obviosly this would be stupid, but it is possible as if you couldn't use a DVD or CD burner you couldn't create an illegal copy of any sortware. Somethings gotta break, and I'm voting for Sony, followed by the film industry (run by Americans, I think).


If you want a good laugh check out The Best Page In The Universe

What is new on the site: "So You Want to become a Kigurumi?" - scary stuff indeed.

Hmmm...interesting
This is the new Java Desktop Environment from Sun Microsystems

Anal

No folks, I'm not here to talk about sex, but rather to describe the way some people act when it comes to critiquing movies. And there's no more anal a web-site to find such critiques that moviemistakes.com.

Now, when you combine this retentive hobby of picking on all the minor (and sometimes major) errors and mishaps that occur in a film, with the fanatical analysis movies like the two (released so far) LOTR movies, you have the possibility of witnessing some very scary occurrences. However, all is not as bad as you might think. Witness Peter Jackson taking on the mistakes pointed out and explaining what happened.

Are you a bright?

Australia is nowhere near as hypocritical about religious tolerance as America is, but it's an interesting article, nonetheless (as well as being an interesting experiment!)

BBC - Cult - Doctor Who - Scream of the Shalka - New Who!!!!!!!!!!!!

Way To Break The News

Well, I was over in Shoppingtown the other day, when I ran into someone I used to work with at Mobil. I mean, not really work with, 'cos she was morning shift and I was afternoon/night, but we'd see each other most days and have the occasional chat.
So she was smiling broadly (she always does that) while telling me how her life had been going in the eighteen months since Mobil. She'd gotten married, she'd had a baby, and her husband had killed himself.
Now, I'd actually met the guy - he was a courier who'd drop by the servo, which I guess is how they'd met - and he didn't strike me as the killing-himself type. She was still grinning, and I wasn't sure if she was joking.
Nope, she wasn't. He really had.
I guess when people break news like that, they ought to give some sort of hint that it's kind of a bad thing. But she grinned away, so I had to take the plunge. It's not the first time this has happened to me, either - there was a time at uni when I ran into a couple of guys from high school who told me someone I couldn't stand had killed himself. One of them was grinning at me. I wasn't sure if they were having me on, at first, but they weren't.
I guess what I'm saying is - PLEASE DON'T GRIN AT ME WHEN TELLING ME ABOUT SOMEONE HAVING COMMITTED SUICIDE. I'm starting to get sick of it!

Consistency requires you to be as ignorant today as you were a year ago. -- Bernard Berenson Go Dave: DAVE'S BURNING OVER PARIS DAVID Letterman is seething after Paris Hilton's publicist convinced her to cancel a hotly anticipated appearance this week on Letterman's show. "The reason she canceled, she hired a publicist, this no-good, beady-eyed, weasel thug putz, publicist got ahold of her and forced her to cancel her appearance," Letterman raged. "I'm telling you, this guy is really lower than pond scum. This guy is, you know live bait? This guy is dead bait. You couldn't be oilier than this guy." Is Linux Desktop-Ready Yet...or Not? I had only two criteria: 1. My DVD player needed to work 2. My SMC 802.11g card needed to work Well folks, I can report that Linux is as useless on an off-the-shelf laptop as it was six months ago. Bombing Anywhere On Earth In Less Than Two Hours The Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency and the US Air Force share a vision of a new transformational capability that aims to provide a means of delivering a substantial payload from within the continental United States (CONUS) to anywhere on Earth in less than two hours High-tech passport unveiled A NEW high-security passports featuring "floating" kangaroos and other anti-tampering technology said to help foil terrorists, people smugglers and other criminals, has been unveiled by Foreign Minister Alexander Downer. Tot locks up mum to watch TV TO have the television all to herself, a two-year-old girl in southwest Germany locked her mother in a bedroom, police said. Women inmates get paid makeover TAXPAYER are footing the bill for Christmas makeovers for a group of female Northern Territory prisoners, it was claimed last night. (C) Shouting Red Goanna Inc. A wholly subsidiary of Screaming Blue Wombat Inc. / Avenging Green Seahorse Industries

Remember, if You Panic, You're Only Helpling The Zombies

Check out this Java zombie simulator. It provides a nice aerial view of a city under a zombie attack. Given that there's no plucky band of heroes - or even just Ash - to stop 'em, they'll take over the entire place as you watch, unless the city draws a populated box with no way in or out, like it sometimes does.

And apparently, when zombies have no-one to infect, they just tend to stand around in groups. Typical.

Something I just had to blog...

Apparently, this is a clip for a Chemical Brothers track. Not some of their best work, but I kind of like the clip.

When There's No Such Thing As Too Much

mmmmm hard drive space.....