Wednesday, March 16, 2005
Tuesday, March 15, 2005
Ronald D. Moore you b*stard...
From his blog
"Could you please explain the writing process for an extra season stroy arc if you don't know if you are going to be signed from one season to the next? hopefully the Sci Fi network will come to there senses and offer a multi year contract. "In other words, he didn't know wether of not BG was going to be picked up for a second series when his wrote the final episode of the first season. Lucky for him it was. It could have gotten ugly othewise...
I just proceed as if it were already a done deal. I wrote the miniseries as a pilot for a series, without ever considering how to cover my bases if it didn't get picked up and I wrote the Season One finale as a cliff-hanger without any backup plan whatsoever if we didn't return.
Sometimes you just gotta roll the hard six.
[Listening to: Korn - Take A Look In The Mirror - Counting On Me (4:49)]
Monday, March 14, 2005
Lazy
Okay - so you get a drink from the fountain. And you're wondering what to do with your cup.
So you leave it on the nearest flat surface.
Is it really that hard to just bend over and put it in the bloody bin?
It obviously is.
So you leave it on the nearest flat surface.
Is it really that hard to just bend over and put it in the bloody bin?
It obviously is.
[Listening to: Rob Dougan - Furious Angels - Nothing At All (6:32)]
Solar Tower of Power Finds Home
From Wired
The quest for a new form of green energy has taken a significant step with the purchase of a 25,000-acre sheep farm in the Australian outback. The huge alternative energy project isn't driven by manure, but by a 1-kilometer-high thermal power station called the Solar Tower.
Announced several years ago, the 3,280-foot Solar Tower is one of the most ambitious alternative energy projects on the planet: a renewable energy plant that pumps out the same power as a small reactor but is totally safe. If built, it will be nearly double the height of the world's tallest structure, the CN Tower in Canada.
Sunday, March 13, 2005
Saturday, March 12, 2005
Friday, March 11, 2005
Thursday, March 10, 2005
Interlude for the Procurers
I'm still not very far advanced in figuring out the next session for the Procurer game. However, there is a scene (unknown to the PCs, though) that follows on from the last session that demanded to be seen. So, here it is.
***********
The chamber was dank and dark, barely lit by the luminescent moss on its walls. The light was enough to make out the room's general shape - an arch-roofed, square room, with a set of heavy doors on one side and a shimmering archway in another. The smell of salt competed with the odours of damp and must for dominance, and little wonder - the shimmering archway was a wall of water, leading straight into the murky depths of the sea.
A point of white light formed in the centre of the room, gradually growing in size and brightness. After a few moments, it flashed brightly, flooding the room with brilliance, then was gone, leaving only the fading brightness of the moss and a sudden rippling of the water-wall to mark its passing. That, and the man in the middle of the room.
He stood frozen for a moment, a parchment held in both hands like the decree of a town crier, one arm thrust through a coronet of silver that gleamed brighter than the meagre light it reflected. Then the parchment crumbled to dust in his hands, and he fell to one knee, his hand clutching at his side through his voluminous robes. He grunted slightly in pain as he probed the rent in his robes, and his hand came away with the wetness of his own blood.
He examined the wound more fully, then slipped one arm out of his robe to better reveal the injury. The gash on his side was far from mortal, but it was bleeding freely, and by the ginger way he probed it with his fingers, quite obviously painful. He laid the coronet on the floor gently, careful not to stain it with his blood, and then began to rummage through his many pockets. He smiled in satisfaction as he produced a glass phial containing a viscous blue liquid. He smeared the liquid over the wound, and spoke a single word.
His wound glowed an intense, bright green, then slowly closed itself, leaving unbroken skin with only a pink mark to show that the gash had ever been there. Nodding in satisfaction, he put the robe back on, then worked a minor cantrip to mend the slit in his robe.
"You have returned earlier than you led me to believe, Matzah," whispered a voice out of the darkness. The man looked up in fear, searching around in the gloom for the speaker. The voice continued, "I trust all proceeds according to your plans."
The man - Matzah - fumbled for the coronet, holding it supplicatingly, still looking all around for the source of the voice. "I have brought you your crown, my lord - but I fear the sword may be lost."
Two brilliant points of blue light appeared in the water-wall, as if of eyes of a huge man. "Lost?" The voice echoed. "All your plans, all your ideas, all the power I gifted you, all the centuries I have waited to avenge my disgrace and you tell me my sword is lost?"
The water-wall shimmered again, and the eyes began to move out of the wall, in the head of a body composed entirely of water. The body resembled a human male's, slim, taut, muscular, and about nine feet tall. The eyes blazed down on Martzah as the water-man stepped towards him.
"My lord, you do not understand - I was succeeding - I had succeeded -"
"LOST!" the water-man bellowed in response, still advancing. "I do not see your success!"
"My lord!" cried Matzah, bowing his head and proffering the crown. "Your crown! And I can win back your sword, I swear I can!"
The waterman halted, lifting the silver crown out of his hands, placing it on his own head, where it perched, causing nary a ripple. "So long…" he murmured, and his blazing eyes dimmed, as if he had closed them.
"My lord, I still have the golems you helped me create. I can trap them in the Mistking's chamber -"
"Never call him that!" boomed the waterman, his eyes doubling in intensity. "Do not ennoble that trickster and betrayer with that title."
"But my lord, it was centuries ago -"
"A moment. A breath. An idle fancy, dispersed by the breeze. Do not presume to tell me about time, mortal. The insult he did me then is no lessened by time - indeed, it has only been compounded."
"A thousand apologies, Eternal Lord," said Matzah hurriedly. "But somehow - the adventurers I had warned you about had found allies - powerful allies. They burst into the chamber, and it was all I could do to escape." He held up one bloodstained hand. "You see? I was wounded!"
The waterman gestured, and one wall of the chamber disappeared, leaving a torchlit scene almost painfully bright in comparison to the dank gloom of the chamber. The tableau so revealed was of the Mistking's burial chamber, containing nine people, frozen like flies in amber. Three were on the ground in various states of apparent pain, two were strapped onto tables with pipes and tubes emerging from all over their bodies, and four more were still upright and apparently alert.
Matzah entered the scene, crossing the room to where an unwashed dwarf was frozen mid-battle howl. "This one - he charged across the room, ignored my elementals as if they were paper and struck me!" He then moved to a lean, angry-looking man clutching a large, implausible sword. "This was their mage - he threw a fireball at me, but my protections were sufficient." He turned around. "The others - well, five of them are the ones I had told you about, but the other two are skilled and dangerous."
"And they now have my sword," mused the waterman. "Still, it is out of that damned iron shell. I wonder if they think they are robbing the dead?" He stared, his blazing eyes dancing with thought.
"My lord," said Matzah, "if I send in my golems -"
"Your golems are decimated," the waterman said matter-of-factly. "Long ago, when Duke Thorgren was beseeching me to teach him the secrets of my crown and sword, I placed my own gambit deep underneath his city, in the hope one would find that iron shell and destroy it. That day never came, but they," he gestured forcefully at the motionless people, "They released my hounds, and your golems fell hapless victim to them." He turned the full force of his sapphire gaze on Matzah. "You told me they were unstoppable. You said that your iron could defeat anything."
"I did not know about your… your gambit, my lord," Matzah replied hurriedly. "If you had seen fit to tell me -"
"Truth be told, I had almost forgotten myself," said the waterman, his anger of a moment ago forgotten, making an airy gesture with one hand. "It was a gambit that had failed."
Matzah continued doggedly, "But if some remain, I can -"
"I am recalling them. I am recalling my thralls, too. They have proved to be no more than the idle diversion so many thought they were. As for the mortals…" The waterman gazed at the tableau. "Greed will get the better of them eventually. They will seek out my crown… and this time, I will not fall to their treachery."
"My lord, that is not wise. A small amount of effort now -"
"Would be nowhere near as fulfilling as bringing them into my kingdom. If I go to them, I would be weak. If they come to me…" the waterman smiled. "They will have to face the King Under the Sea in his own kingdom."
Matzah bowed deeply. "As you command, my lord, so it must be," he said grudgingly.
"It must. As for you… you have returned my crown to me. You shall be rewarded."
Matzah looked up, horrified. "No, my lord, really, that is not necessary -" he began.
"It is necessary. Those who please me are rewarded, those who do not are punished. It is the way of things." He raised one hand, and three female figures, hooded and swaddled deeply in ragged clothing shuffled out of the darkness.
"Yes, my lord," said one. "Coming, my lord," said another. "How may we serve you?" finished the third. Their voices were breathy like a corpse made to sit up, sweet like rotting fruit, and heady like arsenic wine.
"This mortal has pleased me," said the waterman. "Take him and give him pleasure."
They shuffled over to Matzah, who stumbled back from them, his jaw working in silence. "At once, my lord," said one. "We live to serve," said another. The third reached out and cupped Matzah's jaw with one hand, throwing back her hood with another. "We're going to do you," the third hag whispered to the mage, and he screamed.
He was still screaming hours after they had finished.
***********
The chamber was dank and dark, barely lit by the luminescent moss on its walls. The light was enough to make out the room's general shape - an arch-roofed, square room, with a set of heavy doors on one side and a shimmering archway in another. The smell of salt competed with the odours of damp and must for dominance, and little wonder - the shimmering archway was a wall of water, leading straight into the murky depths of the sea.
A point of white light formed in the centre of the room, gradually growing in size and brightness. After a few moments, it flashed brightly, flooding the room with brilliance, then was gone, leaving only the fading brightness of the moss and a sudden rippling of the water-wall to mark its passing. That, and the man in the middle of the room.
He stood frozen for a moment, a parchment held in both hands like the decree of a town crier, one arm thrust through a coronet of silver that gleamed brighter than the meagre light it reflected. Then the parchment crumbled to dust in his hands, and he fell to one knee, his hand clutching at his side through his voluminous robes. He grunted slightly in pain as he probed the rent in his robes, and his hand came away with the wetness of his own blood.
He examined the wound more fully, then slipped one arm out of his robe to better reveal the injury. The gash on his side was far from mortal, but it was bleeding freely, and by the ginger way he probed it with his fingers, quite obviously painful. He laid the coronet on the floor gently, careful not to stain it with his blood, and then began to rummage through his many pockets. He smiled in satisfaction as he produced a glass phial containing a viscous blue liquid. He smeared the liquid over the wound, and spoke a single word.
His wound glowed an intense, bright green, then slowly closed itself, leaving unbroken skin with only a pink mark to show that the gash had ever been there. Nodding in satisfaction, he put the robe back on, then worked a minor cantrip to mend the slit in his robe.
"You have returned earlier than you led me to believe, Matzah," whispered a voice out of the darkness. The man looked up in fear, searching around in the gloom for the speaker. The voice continued, "I trust all proceeds according to your plans."
The man - Matzah - fumbled for the coronet, holding it supplicatingly, still looking all around for the source of the voice. "I have brought you your crown, my lord - but I fear the sword may be lost."
Two brilliant points of blue light appeared in the water-wall, as if of eyes of a huge man. "Lost?" The voice echoed. "All your plans, all your ideas, all the power I gifted you, all the centuries I have waited to avenge my disgrace and you tell me my sword is lost?"
The water-wall shimmered again, and the eyes began to move out of the wall, in the head of a body composed entirely of water. The body resembled a human male's, slim, taut, muscular, and about nine feet tall. The eyes blazed down on Martzah as the water-man stepped towards him.
"My lord, you do not understand - I was succeeding - I had succeeded -"
"LOST!" the water-man bellowed in response, still advancing. "I do not see your success!"
"My lord!" cried Matzah, bowing his head and proffering the crown. "Your crown! And I can win back your sword, I swear I can!"
The waterman halted, lifting the silver crown out of his hands, placing it on his own head, where it perched, causing nary a ripple. "So long…" he murmured, and his blazing eyes dimmed, as if he had closed them.
"My lord, I still have the golems you helped me create. I can trap them in the Mistking's chamber -"
"Never call him that!" boomed the waterman, his eyes doubling in intensity. "Do not ennoble that trickster and betrayer with that title."
"But my lord, it was centuries ago -"
"A moment. A breath. An idle fancy, dispersed by the breeze. Do not presume to tell me about time, mortal. The insult he did me then is no lessened by time - indeed, it has only been compounded."
"A thousand apologies, Eternal Lord," said Matzah hurriedly. "But somehow - the adventurers I had warned you about had found allies - powerful allies. They burst into the chamber, and it was all I could do to escape." He held up one bloodstained hand. "You see? I was wounded!"
The waterman gestured, and one wall of the chamber disappeared, leaving a torchlit scene almost painfully bright in comparison to the dank gloom of the chamber. The tableau so revealed was of the Mistking's burial chamber, containing nine people, frozen like flies in amber. Three were on the ground in various states of apparent pain, two were strapped onto tables with pipes and tubes emerging from all over their bodies, and four more were still upright and apparently alert.
Matzah entered the scene, crossing the room to where an unwashed dwarf was frozen mid-battle howl. "This one - he charged across the room, ignored my elementals as if they were paper and struck me!" He then moved to a lean, angry-looking man clutching a large, implausible sword. "This was their mage - he threw a fireball at me, but my protections were sufficient." He turned around. "The others - well, five of them are the ones I had told you about, but the other two are skilled and dangerous."
"And they now have my sword," mused the waterman. "Still, it is out of that damned iron shell. I wonder if they think they are robbing the dead?" He stared, his blazing eyes dancing with thought.
"My lord," said Matzah, "if I send in my golems -"
"Your golems are decimated," the waterman said matter-of-factly. "Long ago, when Duke Thorgren was beseeching me to teach him the secrets of my crown and sword, I placed my own gambit deep underneath his city, in the hope one would find that iron shell and destroy it. That day never came, but they," he gestured forcefully at the motionless people, "They released my hounds, and your golems fell hapless victim to them." He turned the full force of his sapphire gaze on Matzah. "You told me they were unstoppable. You said that your iron could defeat anything."
"I did not know about your… your gambit, my lord," Matzah replied hurriedly. "If you had seen fit to tell me -"
"Truth be told, I had almost forgotten myself," said the waterman, his anger of a moment ago forgotten, making an airy gesture with one hand. "It was a gambit that had failed."
Matzah continued doggedly, "But if some remain, I can -"
"I am recalling them. I am recalling my thralls, too. They have proved to be no more than the idle diversion so many thought they were. As for the mortals…" The waterman gazed at the tableau. "Greed will get the better of them eventually. They will seek out my crown… and this time, I will not fall to their treachery."
"My lord, that is not wise. A small amount of effort now -"
"Would be nowhere near as fulfilling as bringing them into my kingdom. If I go to them, I would be weak. If they come to me…" the waterman smiled. "They will have to face the King Under the Sea in his own kingdom."
Matzah bowed deeply. "As you command, my lord, so it must be," he said grudgingly.
"It must. As for you… you have returned my crown to me. You shall be rewarded."
Matzah looked up, horrified. "No, my lord, really, that is not necessary -" he began.
"It is necessary. Those who please me are rewarded, those who do not are punished. It is the way of things." He raised one hand, and three female figures, hooded and swaddled deeply in ragged clothing shuffled out of the darkness.
"Yes, my lord," said one. "Coming, my lord," said another. "How may we serve you?" finished the third. Their voices were breathy like a corpse made to sit up, sweet like rotting fruit, and heady like arsenic wine.
"This mortal has pleased me," said the waterman. "Take him and give him pleasure."
They shuffled over to Matzah, who stumbled back from them, his jaw working in silence. "At once, my lord," said one. "We live to serve," said another. The third reached out and cupped Matzah's jaw with one hand, throwing back her hood with another. "We're going to do you," the third hag whispered to the mage, and he screamed.
He was still screaming hours after they had finished.
Wednesday, March 09, 2005
End of Conspiracy Theories? Spacecraft Snoops Apollo Moon Sites
Hopefully this will shut a few morons up. But probably not, they will be allowed to continue to pollute the gene pool.
More Here
A European spacecraft now orbiting the Moon could turn out to be a time machine of sorts as it photographs old landing sites of Soviet robotic probes and the areas where American Apollo crews set down and explored.
New imagery of old Apollo touchdown spots, from the European Space Agency’s (ESA) SMART-1 probe, might put to rest conspiratorial thoughts that U.S. astronauts didn’t go the distance and scuff up the lunar landscape. NASA carried out six piloted landings on the Moon in the time period 1969 through 1972.
Fringe theorists have said images of the waving flag -- on a Moon with no atmosphere -- and other oddities show that NASA never really went to the Moon. No serious scientist or spaceflight historian doubts the success of the Apollo program, however.
More Here
Once again he claims his mistakes are not his fault.
Would it be like me to say anything bad about Michael Schumacher? No, not at all. I will let the following news article speak for itself.
'Rambo' Schumacher under fire (Full Article Here)
The bottom line is that he screwed up the race for him and someone else. Now if Schumacher wants to drive off the track into the gravel, I say let him. But, let him do that by himself, the race will be better for it.
'Rambo' Schumacher under fire (Full Article Here)
From correspondents in Berlin
March 8, 2005
GERMANY'S seven-time Formula One champion Michael Schumacher is usually the darling of the domestic media but he was in the firing line after clashing with compatriot and BMW Williams driver Nick Heidfeld in the Melbourne Grand Prix on Sunday.
With 15 laps until the chequered flag Ferrari ace Schumacher, 36, refused to allow countryman Heidfeld to pass and the pair collided before spinning off onto the grass.
"Rambo Schumi," headlined Bild daily. "Heidfeld was quicker but Schumi just edged him onto the grass. Then he offered no apology."
Schumacher insisted neither driver was to blame claiming it was just part and parcel of motor racing.
"I saw him behind me just as I came out the pits and made it clear I was going to defend my position," said Schumacher. "It is optimistic of Nick to think I am going to just let him pass inside me."
But the win-at-all-costs attitude of the Ferrari driver prompted Bild to ask: "Is Schumacher really that bad of a loser?"
Bild, Germany's most popular tabloid, was not alone in asking questions about the behaviour of the former Benetton driver.
"Schumacher on the stocks," read sport 1. "His actions crown a miserable weekend."
"Relaxed Schumi has no conscience," added the Frankfurter Allgemeine.
Formula One chiefs have confirmed that no action will be taken against Schumacher or Heidfeld after watching television replays of the incident.
The bottom line is that he screwed up the race for him and someone else. Now if Schumacher wants to drive off the track into the gravel, I say let him. But, let him do that by himself, the race will be better for it.
Tiger vs. Longhorn
Tiger vs. Longhorn
More Here
Relations between the users of Apple and Microsoft computers have never been particularly cordial. Windows users claim they've won the war for the desktop: all you have to do is look at the numbers and you find the most of the world using a Microsoft OS. Mac users point out a near total lack of security problems, along with a bombproof operating system that never seems to crash. (Then they sneer at the Windows masses.)
The truth is that both operating systems are powerful, especially compared to what either company offered a decade ago.
But while Microsoft's Windows XP (news - web sites) is under a nearly constant assault from new security threats, Apple keeps pushing OS X forward with major updates on an annual basis. Apple's next update to OS X, Tiger, should ship in the first half of this year, while Microsoft's next major Windows upgrade has been pushed out to 2006.
More Here
Tuesday, March 08, 2005
Remember them?
Guns & Roses - once one of the biggest bands in the world. What happened to them? Axel went mad and fired everybody? This article is an attempt to recount the goings on of the recording of their 'new' album - Chinese Democracy. An album they started recording in 1994 and has so far reportedly cost over US$13 million to record. My favourite paragraph.
That's right - a freaking chicken coop. Nutter.
But Mr. Rose's renewed energies were not being directed toward the finish line. He had the crew send him CD's almost daily, sometimes with 16 or more takes of a musician performing his part of a single song. He accompanied Buckethead on a jaunt to Disneyland when the guitarist was drifting toward quitting, several people involved recalled; then Buckethead announced he would be more comfortable working inside a chicken coop, so one was built for him in the studio, from wood planks and chicken wire.
That's right - a freaking chicken coop. Nutter.
[Listening to: Stone Temple Pilots - Thank You - Creep (5:34)]
Stupid Trek
Most people know by now that the latest Trek series - Enterprise has finally been shit-canned. There's been a bit of questioning as to what went wrong with the series (well I'd start with the easy-listening AM theme song...). As cast member Jolene Blalock mused
Alot of fans would speculate that Rick Berman had a bit to do with that.
One paragraph in this article really caught my eye.
How appalling? Well according to AICN (always an accurate and reliable source...)
That's right - four whole seasons of a television show is nothing more than a holo-deck adventure. Appalling is not the words I'd use to describe it - more like f@cked in the head.....
Oh well - at least there's a second season of Galactica to look forward to.
"I mean, we started out with 13 million viewers on the pilot, and we somehow managed to drive 11 million of them away."
Alot of fans would speculate that Rick Berman had a bit to do with that.
One paragraph in this article really caught my eye.
There is an awkward silence when the subject of the final episode is broached. "I don't know where to begin with that one," she finally stammers. "The final episode is ... appalling."
How appalling? Well according to AICN (always an accurate and reliable source...)
"Oh F*** it...Trip dies at the end and the episode is a holographic program on the holodeck of the Enterprise-D (yes..."D" as in how DUMB can you get!)which Riker and Troi are observing. The series itself is not a hologram program, but the likelihood of bringing it back after this bullshit is practically zero. You may now commense your saber rattling.
It's a holographic recreation. They could always write that it was a different scenario being played out, but the bottom line is...that this will be the final episode if this is the final season (which is pretty certain, regardless of the hard work done by saveenterprise and united trek). I would say that is a pretty shitty way to go out...especially for a Star Trek series.”
That's right - four whole seasons of a television show is nothing more than a holo-deck adventure. Appalling is not the words I'd use to describe it - more like f@cked in the head.....
Oh well - at least there's a second season of Galactica to look forward to.
Saturday, March 05, 2005
The recording industry can go f*ck itself
Nice title - but hey - that's pretty much my feeling for them at the moment. Why? Well - apart from the rank hypocrisy and stupidity of them trying to tell me how and when I will listen to the music I purchased from them, it's their sheer gall to stand up and cry foul that pirates are stealing the hard-earned money from the poor struggling artists, while at the same time refusing to release completed albums because they can't "find a marketable single".
Now I'm not crying up a storm here because they're stopping the release of an album by Fiona Apple - I'm sure she's still quite well off thank you very much. I'm pissed off because it's music that I want to listen to and they're stopping me from doing so for no other reason than their crass commercialism. So much for their whinging about artistic integrity.
It's such a shame that these situations arise, yet so much crap still gets released without a problem (god I feel unclean after that lot).
Now I'm not crying up a storm here because they're stopping the release of an album by Fiona Apple - I'm sure she's still quite well off thank you very much. I'm pissed off because it's music that I want to listen to and they're stopping me from doing so for no other reason than their crass commercialism. So much for their whinging about artistic integrity.
It's such a shame that these situations arise, yet so much crap still gets released without a problem (god I feel unclean after that lot).
[Addendum] I'm sure you've all heard the saying "Information wants to be free". It now appears, by various means that at least six of the eleven tracks off Fiona Apple's completed album (an album that Sony started promoting last year) how found their way onto the information superhighway. heh.
[Listening to: Stabbing Westward - Wither Blister Burn & Peel - What Do I Have To Do (4:09)]
Friday, March 04, 2005
Suck on that Ferrari F1!
To: Jean Todt, Ferrari Formula 1 Team Boss. Suck this you frog-eating wanker.
From Fox Sports
Minardi gets green light
From Fox Sports
Minardi gets green light
March 4, 2005
FORMULA ONE team Minardi can race in the Australian Grand Prix after the Victorian Supreme Court granted an injunction tonight.
Grand Prix officials earlier ruled the Minardi team out of the race after they were told their cars did not meet 2005 safety standards.
Justice Habersberger ruled Minardi could participate in tomorrow's practice session, given that the matter was urgent.
The court was adjourned until 2.15pm tomorrow when any interested parties could discuss the issue further.
No Formula One officials appeared in court because of the short notice of the legal action.
Minardi team owner Paul Stoddart was relieved his cars could get on the track tomorrow.
"Now it's in the hands of the court, I really can't say anymore than that except that Minardi will be participating tomorrow, as usual, at the Grand Prix," Stoddart said.
"It's really fantastic to actually get on the track in the wake of all the publicity."
The Ferrari Formula 1 Team can go F*ck them selves
Nutshell:
Minardi are one of the poorest teams in F1. They don't have the funds to modify last years car to meet the requirements of this years regulations. Minardi do have a car built to this years regulations but it will not be ready until the 5th round. What is the reality of this? Well, even with the advantages of the looser rules of last year Minardi have no chance of a victory, they haven't had a chance of a victory since entering F1 in 1980. Every other team bar Ferrari has signed the agreement to allow Minardi to race.
Why should Minardi be permitted to race with a car that doesn't meet the regulations?
1. This will allow them to put in a shoe for their sponsors and allow the team to keep running.
2. Minardi's two rookie drivers (Christijan Albers and Patrick Friesacher) will get Grand Prix track time.
3. Yet another team may not be forced out of F1.
4. As previously mentioned, they can't win anyway, not even with the superior rules of last season.
Minardi's boss Australian Paul Stoddart has been waiting for Ferrari to sign the agreement since September 14th 2004. If the agreement is not signed by 11am today, then Minardi cannot race.
Nutshell (The Ferrari F1 Team Boss's position)
We're Ferrari, the top team on the ladder. Your Minardi, bottom team on the ladder. You've been saying bad things about us, we don't take kindly to that. You have no funds. We are not going to let you race the first four rounds of the chanpoinship with last years car even though you are no threat to anyone.
So here's a BIG FAT F*CK YOU to Ferrari's Formula 1 Team boss Jean Todt.
Article Quotes:
Paul Stoddart: "Why damage yourself over something as small as hurting the smallest team in Formula One."
"Jean didn't tell me on the phone 'Paul, you are a threat to Ferrari'. He said 'Paul you have been saying bad things about Ferrari'. "I don't care if he doesn't like me. I'm not here to win popularity. I'm here because I passionately care about my team and Formula One."
But Stoddart won support from the likely source of Australian driver Mark Webber, who was given his break into the sport by Minardi in 2002.
"I'd be very disappointed if Paul wasn't racing here," Webber said.
"The fans are very much behind the Minardi team. They are basically a family team and very passionate. The spirit is incredible in that team.
"They want to come here to compete, of course they can't compete for overall honours but they need to do their best with what they've got."
Full Article Here
Minardi are one of the poorest teams in F1. They don't have the funds to modify last years car to meet the requirements of this years regulations. Minardi do have a car built to this years regulations but it will not be ready until the 5th round. What is the reality of this? Well, even with the advantages of the looser rules of last year Minardi have no chance of a victory, they haven't had a chance of a victory since entering F1 in 1980. Every other team bar Ferrari has signed the agreement to allow Minardi to race.
Why should Minardi be permitted to race with a car that doesn't meet the regulations?
1. This will allow them to put in a shoe for their sponsors and allow the team to keep running.
2. Minardi's two rookie drivers (Christijan Albers and Patrick Friesacher) will get Grand Prix track time.
3. Yet another team may not be forced out of F1.
4. As previously mentioned, they can't win anyway, not even with the superior rules of last season.
Minardi's boss Australian Paul Stoddart has been waiting for Ferrari to sign the agreement since September 14th 2004. If the agreement is not signed by 11am today, then Minardi cannot race.
Nutshell (The Ferrari F1 Team Boss's position)
We're Ferrari, the top team on the ladder. Your Minardi, bottom team on the ladder. You've been saying bad things about us, we don't take kindly to that. You have no funds. We are not going to let you race the first four rounds of the chanpoinship with last years car even though you are no threat to anyone.
So here's a BIG FAT F*CK YOU to Ferrari's Formula 1 Team boss Jean Todt.
Article Quotes:
Paul Stoddart: "Why damage yourself over something as small as hurting the smallest team in Formula One."
"Jean didn't tell me on the phone 'Paul, you are a threat to Ferrari'. He said 'Paul you have been saying bad things about Ferrari'. "I don't care if he doesn't like me. I'm not here to win popularity. I'm here because I passionately care about my team and Formula One."
But Stoddart won support from the likely source of Australian driver Mark Webber, who was given his break into the sport by Minardi in 2002.
"I'd be very disappointed if Paul wasn't racing here," Webber said.
"The fans are very much behind the Minardi team. They are basically a family team and very passionate. The spirit is incredible in that team.
"They want to come here to compete, of course they can't compete for overall honours but they need to do their best with what they've got."
Full Article Here
Thursday, March 03, 2005
The Poseidon Undersea Resort
New hotel built 15m under the sea
An undersea hotel is in the planning stages and is set to be located off Eleuthera Island in the Bahamas.
The Poseidon Undersea Resort - the brainchild of US entrepreneur Bruce Jones - is expected to cost more than $50 million to build.
An undersea hotel is in the planning stages and is set to be located off Eleuthera Island in the Bahamas.
The Poseidon Undersea Resort - the brainchild of US entrepreneur Bruce Jones - is expected to cost more than $50 million to build.
Monday, February 28, 2005
Starbuck: Lost in Castration
From Dreamwatch Magazine
Definitely an interesting take on the new series...
Once upon a time, in what used to be a far away land called Hollywood but is now a state of mind and everywhere, a young actor was handed a script and asked to bring to life a character called Starbuck. I am that actor. The script was called Battlestar Galactica.
Fortunately I was young, my imagination fertile and adrenal glands strong, because bringing Starbuck to life was over the dead imaginations of a lot of Network Executives. Every character trait I struggled to give him was met with vigorous resistance. A charming womanizer? The "Suits" (Network Executives) hated it. A cigar (fumerello) smoker? The Suits hated it. A reluctant hero who found humour in the bleakest of situations? The Suits hated it. All this negative feedback convinced me I was on the right track.
Starbuck was meant to be a loveable rogue. It was best for the show, best for the character and the best that I could do. The Suits didn't think so. "One more cigar and he's fired,"they told Glen Larson, the creator of the show. "We want Starbuck to appeal to the female audience for crying out loud!" You see, the Suits knew women were turned off by men who smoked cigars. Especially young men. (How they "knew" this was never revealed.) And they didn't stop there. "If Dirk doesn't quit playing every scene with a girl like he wants to get her in bed, he's fired!" This was, well, it was blatant heterosexuality. Treating women like "sex objects". I thought it was flirting. Never mind. They wouldn't have it.
I wouldn't have it any other way, or rather Starbuck wouldn't. So we persevered, Starbuck and I. The show, as the saying goes, went on and the rest is history – for, lo and behold, women from all over the world sent me boxes of cigars, phone numbers, dinner requests, marriage proposals... The Suits were not impressed. They would have there way, which is what Suits do best, and after one season of puffing and flirting and gambling, Starbuck, that loveable scoundrel, was indeed fired. Which is to say Battlestar Galactica was cancelled. Starbuck however, would not stay cancelled, but simply morphed into another flirting, cigar-smoking, blatant heterosexual called Faceman Another show, another set of Suits and, of course, if the A-Team movie rumours prove correct, another remake.
There was a time – I know I was there – when men were men, women were women and sometimes a cigar was just a good smoke. But 40 years of feminism have taken their toll. The war against masculinity has been won. Everything has turned into its opposite, so that what was once flirting and smoking is now sexual harassment and criminal. And everyone is more lonely and miserable as a result.
Witness the "re-imagined" Battlestar Galactica. It's bleak, miserable, despairing, angry and confused. Which is to say, it reflects, in microcosm, the complete change in the politics and mores of today's world as opposed to the world of yesterday. The world of Lorne Greene (Adama) and Fred Astaire (Starbuck's Poppa), and Dirk Benedict (Starbuck). I would guess Lorne is glad he's in that Big Bonanza in the sky and well out of it. Starbuck, alas, has not been so lucky. He's not been left to pass quietly into that trivial world of cancelled TV characters.
"Re-imagining", they call it. "un-imagining" is more accurate. To take what once was and twist it into what never was intended. So that a television show based on hope, spiritual faith, and family is unimagined and regurgitated as a show of despair, sexual violence and family dysfunction. To better reflect the times of ambiguous morality in which we live, one would assume. A show in which the aliens (Cylons) are justified in their desire to destroy our civilization. One would assume. Indeed, let us not say who are he guys and who are the bad. That is being "judgemental". And that kind of (simplistic) thinking went out with Margaret Thatcher and Ronald Reagan and Katharine Hepburn and John Wayne and, well the original Battlestar Galactica.
In the bleak and miserable, "re-imagined" world of Battlestar Galactica, things are never that simple. Maybe the Cylons are not evil and alien but in fact enlightened and evolved? Let us not judge them so harshly. Maybe it is they who deserve to live and Adama, and his human ilk who deserves to die? And what a way to go! For the re-imagined terrorists (Cylons) are not mechanical robots void of soul, of sexuality, but rather humanoid six-foot-tall former lingerie models who f**k you to death. (Poor old Starbuck, you were imagined to early. Think of the fun you could have had `fighting' with these thong-clad aliens! In the spirit of such soft-core sci-fi porn I think a more re-imaginative title would have been F**cked by A Cylon. (Apologies to Touched by An Angel.)
One thing is certain. In the new un-imagined, re-imagined world of Battlestar Galactica everything is female driven. The male characters, from Adama on down, are confused, weak, and wracked with indecision while the female characters are decisive, bold, angry as hell, puffing cigars (gasp) and not about to take it any more.
One can quickly surmise what a problem the original Starbuck created for the re-imaginators. Starbuck was all charm and humour and flirting without an angry bone in his womanising body. Yes, he was definitely `female driven', but not in the politically correct ways of Re-imagined Television. What to do, wondered the Re-imaginators? Keep him as he was, with a twinkle in his eye, a stogie in his mouth, a girl in every galaxy? This could not be. He would stick out like, well like a jock strap in a drawer of thongs. Starbuck refused to be re-imagined. It became the Great Dilemma. How to have your Starbuck and delete him too?
The best minds in the world of un-imagination doubled their intake of Double Soy Lattes as they gathered in their smoke-free offices to curse the day this chauvinistic Viper Pilot was allowed to be. But never under estimate the power of the un-imaginative mind when it encounters an obstacle (character) it subconsciously loathes. "Re-inspiration" struck. Starbuck would go the way of most men in today's society. Starbuck would become "Stardoe". What the Suits of yesteryear had been incapable of doing to Starbuck 25 years ago was accomplished quicker than you can say orchiectomy. Much quicker. As in, "Frak! Gonads Gone!" And the word went out to all the Suits in all the smoke-free offices throughout the land of Un-imagination, "Starbuck is dead. Long live Stardoe!"
I'm not sure if a cigar in the mouth of Stardoe resonates in the same way it did in the mouth of Starbuck. Perhaps. Perhaps it "resonates" more. Perhaps that's the point. I'm not sure. What I am sure of is this…
Women are from Venus. Men are from Mars. Hamlet does not scan as Hamletta. Nor does Han Solo as Han Sally. Faceman is not the same as Facewoman. Nor does a Stardoe a Starbuck make. Men hand out cigars. Women `hand out' babies. And thus the world, for thousands of years,
has gone round.
I am also sure that Show Business has been morphing for many decades now and has finally become Biz Business. The creative artists have lost and the Suits have won. Suits. Administrators. Technocrats. Metro-sexual money-men (and women) who create formulas to guarantee profit margins. Because movies and television shows are not made to enlighten or even entertain but simply to make money. They will tell you it is (still) about story and character but all it is really about is efficiency. About The Formula. Because Harvard Business School Technocrats run Hollywood and what Technocrats know is what must be removed from all business is Risk. And I tell you life, real life, is all about risk. I tell you that without risk you have no creativity, no art. I tell you that without risk you have Remakes. You have Charlie's Angels, The Saint, Mission Impossible, The A-Team (coming soon) Battlestar Galactica. All risk-free brand names, franchises.
For you see, TV Shows (and movies) are made and sold according to the same business formula as hamburger franchises. So that it matters not if the `best' hamburger, what matters is that you `think' it is the best. And you do think it's the best, because you have been told to; because all of your favourite celebrities are seen munching it on TV. The big money is not spent on making the hamburger or the television show, but on the marketing of the hamburger/show. (One 60-second commercial can cost more than it does to film a one-hour episode.) It matters not to Suits if it is Starbuck or Stardoe, if the Cylons are robots or lingerie models, if the show is full of optimism and morality or pessimism and amorality. What matters is that it is marketed well, so that all you people out there in TV land know that you must see this show. And after you see it, you are told that you should like it. That it is new and bold and sleek and sexy and best of all… it is Re-imagined!
So grab a Coke from the fridge (not the Classic Coke, but the re-imagined kind with fewer calories) and send out for a McDonald's Hamburger (the re-imagined one with fewer carbs) and tune in to Stardoe and Cylon #6 (or was it #69?) and Enjoy The Show.
And if you don't enjoy the show, or the hamburger and coke, it's not the fault of those re-imaginative technocrats that brought them to you. It is your fault. You and your individual instincts, tastes, judgement. Your refusal to let go of the memory of the show that once was. You just don't know what is good for you. But stay tuned. After another 13 episodes (and millions of dollar of marketing), you will see the light. You, your instincts, your judgement, are wrong. McDonald's is the best hamburger on the planet, Coca-Cola the best drink. Stardoe is the best Viper Pilot in the Galaxy. And Battlestar Galactica, contrary to what your memory tells you, never existed before the Re-imagination of 2003.
I disagree. But perhaps, you had to be there.
Dirk Benedict, writing in Dreamwatch, May 2004
Definitely an interesting take on the new series...
Words of wisdom
There are words to remember.
More here
Rather than let them alarm you, ask yourself this: do you think people who can't tell you whether it will rain next Wednesday are really capable of building models that tell you what the climate will be like 100 years from now? I wouldn't trust any economic modelling that forecast what the world economy would look like a century hence, and climate models are at least as flawed as economists' ones.
More here
Sunday, February 27, 2005
*sigh* Apple fanatics, WTF is wrong with you?
Right Thoughts: "*sigh* Apple fanatics, WTF is wrong with you?"
Frankly Apple fanatics have always been a little strange. No more so than this guy. For starters, there lego figures not Minifigs (whatever the heck they are). Secondly - they guy who makes them - people with one name are always a little strange. Thirdly - his second figure - at $US17 a pop, sold out in 36 minutes. What a racket...
Look - freaking Lego painted black. And people pay money for this...
Frankly Apple fanatics have always been a little strange. No more so than this guy. For starters, there lego figures not Minifigs (whatever the heck they are). Secondly - they guy who makes them - people with one name are always a little strange. Thirdly - his second figure - at $US17 a pop, sold out in 36 minutes. What a racket...
Look - freaking Lego painted black. And people pay money for this...
Wrong. Simply Wrong.
So, we're playing Trivial Pursuit 20th Anniversary Edition and we had accross this question:
Q: What Sydney attraction was the venue for the Gay Games VI cultural event titled "Wild Sex"?
A: Toronga Zoo
Wrong, just plain wrong. Then we drew this question:
Q: What is eleven inches long and boosts Harry Potter's popularity with the girls at Hogwatrs?
A: A wand.
The question must be asked "What were they trying to accomplish when the question was written?"
Q: What Sydney attraction was the venue for the Gay Games VI cultural event titled "Wild Sex"?
A: Toronga Zoo
Wrong, just plain wrong. Then we drew this question:
Q: What is eleven inches long and boosts Harry Potter's popularity with the girls at Hogwatrs?
A: A wand.
The question must be asked "What were they trying to accomplish when the question was written?"
Friday, February 25, 2005
blog redesign
As you can see - I got bored with the look of the site and have decided to give it a make-over. Translation - I've got some stuff I need to finish but I'm procrastinating.
Still have to work out the bugs in some of the stuff - notably the colour in post titles. A work in progress you might say.
[Listening to: Rage Against The Machine - Renegades of Funk - Maggies Farm (6:52)]
Thursday, February 24, 2005
Shooting fish in a barrel
Wednesday, February 23, 2005
Monday, February 21, 2005
Anti-Hero Syndrome
I'd like to preface this screed by saying that I started writing it over eight months ago, and have added to it incrementally since then. Consequently this article may be somewhat lacking in coherence & structure, but I feel the underlying message is clear. So rather than junk it or re-write the piece, I've chosen to post it as is. Enjoy...
One of the hallmarks of good storytelling is the creation of a memorable villain (or villains). Creating that emotional investment on the behalf of the reader/viewer means that they get more out of the story. A side effect of making a villain memorable is that the reader is often left clamoring for their return and the author is left twisting their story's credibility to allow this villainto escape at the end of their story to do so. Giving the readers what they think they want is not always the best thing.
Fiction is littered with such examples. Take Thomas Harris' Hannibal Lector. A memorable, but in the grand scale of the story a relatively minor character in Red Dragon, he really stole the show in The Silence of the Lambs (helped in no small part by Tony Hopkin's performance in the movie adaptation). The public fell in love with this anti-hero and wanted more. And Harris gave it to them with the book Hannibal. Now Hannibal Lecter is an amoral monster - he eats people for crying out loud. Unless you're Brett Easton Ellis, it's rather hard to have the major protagonist of your book a completely unlikable monster. So begins the reform of your bad guy.
Now, eating people is kind of nasty, but it is part of the Cannibal's shtick... so lets sure that most of the people he eats are equally as bad as he is.... say a child molester. While we're giving the fans what they want, let's cater to the real sicko's on the net by having Lecter & Clarice Starling fall in love. Now this is rationalised by Lecter claiming he is fascinated by her intellect & reasoning capabilities. So what's Lecter do the first chance hegets? Brainwashes her & turns her into his mindless f#uck-buddy. Giving the readers what they think they want is not always the best thing.
By the way - think I'm going a bit far with this transformation of Lecter into some kind of hero? Then explain this? But I digress...
The second example of this syndrome is the character Spike of BTVS/Angel fame. Now when this character was first introduced he was supposed to be a brutal bloodthirsty killer who had taken out no less than two slayers (a big deal on this show). Now over the course of his many appearances the show has proceeded to de-claw, de-ball & ultimately destroy the character. It gets so bad that for almost an entire season, he is kept a pseudo- prisonerby the good guys who choose not to destroy him because he's got a chip in his head stopping him from doing bad things.
Keep in mind something here. This isn't a human we're talking about here, it's a monster. It's was a well established fact in the Buffy mythos (at least until Spike came along and the rulebook got thrown out) {mythos?? - god, that sounds wanky reading that}, that when a person is transformed into a vampire, they are taken over by a demon - the person they were is destroyed. So Spike isn't a person - he's a monster. A monster that has killed and tortured countless people just because he could Just because he doesn't look as ugly as most of the monsters doesn't explain the reticence to destroy him for two seasons when he was at their mercy. You know what does - giving in to fanboys and catering to the anti-hero syndrome. Of course, it's also convenient that the only thing that his chip allows him to hit isbad guys - further helping his transformation from cool character to Angel 2.0 replacement. Lame.
Which brings me via a long-winded & convoluted path to what I originally wanted to talk about - the Atticus Kodiak books by Greg Rucka. These books (Keeper, Finder, Smoker, Shooting at Midnight & Critical Space) tell the stories of Kodiak - a Personal Security Agent, or bodyguard, and the people he protects. The first two books I really enjoyed quite a bit. They seem fairly accurate and grounded in reality. When people got shot it tended to really hurt instead of being a minor inconvenience. Perhaps it says something about being a member of the X Files generation that I didn't really blink when it came to the second books plot about a cancelled black ops slush fund.
Book three is where I felt things started to hit the skids. In this book - Smoker - the villain of the piece is a current popular one - Big American Tobacco - who is trying to silence a former employee before hetestifies as to how evil and nasty his former employers were in creating an addictive product. The way they do this is by hiring a professional assassin - in this case one of the Ten - as the name implies one of the ten deadliest assassins in the world. And Atticus is hired to protect the target from these unwanted attentions. Now through good planning, hard work and allot of luck, Atticus & his team manage to protect the target - but it's made perfectly clear that this was by no means an easy job. The book itself is still a good read which I enjoyed. It stays pretty much true to the characters and doesn't stretch its credibility too far (no more than you'd expect in a thriller). The problem lies in the seeds planted for future books in the form of the assassin Atticus & co. fight against - the assassin known as Drama.
Now Drama is a classic poster-child for Anti-Hero Syndrome. She's a cool character with a mysterious, shady past. She's ultra-competent - almost literally able to hand the so-called hero his arse on a number of occasions. And because we're teased by the character and only get the briefest glimpse of who she really is, we're left wanting more. And like so many authors before him, Rucka feels obliged to respond.
We come to the plot of the fifth book - Critical Space (the fourth book being more of a detour into the past history of Kodiak's on again/off again sometimes girlfriend's past - so much a detour that it almost isn't a Kodiak book... but I digress...). So what's the plot of this book? In a nut-shell - because a journalist wrote a book based on the events of the third book, other member's of the Ten decide that Drama has come too close to lifting the lid on the secret underworld they live in - and have decided it's time to rub her out. And Drama's response?Disappear into retirement never to be seen again? Nope. Kill the killers before they get to her? Nope. She instead decides to kidnap the latest person Kodiak has been hired to protect in order to barter the kidnapped person's life in exchange for Atticus's services in protecting Drama. That's right - she wants to hire the guy who protected his previous client through mostly sheer luck and who obviously can't protect his current client - witness the successful kidnapping - because he can somehow protect Drama from another member of the Ten??? Hello??? Excuse me??? This belief is based on what??? That he got lucky once??? What rational reason is there other than "Shit, I've gotta work out away to reintroduce this cool character into my story and I've go no idea how. I know - she can hire him as a bodyguard." What possible purpose can Kodiak serve as a bodyguard? Moving target maybe. But Rucka's already demonstrated on multiple occasions that Drama is more skillful, better equipped, better trained and generally a superior athlete. I'm stumped as well...
Leaving aside the basic idea that practically there's no real purpose behind hiring Kodiak as a bodyguard, let's look at the second problem - Drama is a monster. She takes money - sums in the seven figure range - to kill people - quite successfully I might add. She has no qualms about doing so, and doesn't worry about why she's doing this or for what purpose the killing is for. Heck - Atticus himself states on a number of occasions that she's a monster. Yet at the end of the day he agrees to help her - even though he's coerced; even though she's a killer. Seems crazy right? Even Kodiak's own friends point out this discrepancy to him. And yet he ignores them and goes along with this.
And that is my problem with anti-hero syndrome. If you're going to make the bad guy (or gal) out to be a monster, then there has to be some kind of come-uppance to them. If the Hero is in the situationto finish off, or defeat of capture, or punish the bad guy, then that is what the Hero is suppose to do if they are going to stay the hero. Otherwise, the Hero has sold-out all for the sake of keeping the cool anti-hero. Joss Whedon (or more precisely Marti Noxon- the twit who ruined ran Season 06/07 of BtVS) did it. Thomas Harris did it. And Greg Rucka did it.
Of course, that could just be my misguided opinion..
One of the hallmarks of good storytelling is the creation of a memorable villain (or villains). Creating that emotional investment on the behalf of the reader/viewer means that they get more out of the story. A side effect of making a villain memorable is that the reader is often left clamoring for their return and the author is left twisting their story's credibility to allow this villainto escape at the end of their story to do so. Giving the readers what they think they want is not always the best thing.
Fiction is littered with such examples. Take Thomas Harris' Hannibal Lector. A memorable, but in the grand scale of the story a relatively minor character in Red Dragon, he really stole the show in The Silence of the Lambs (helped in no small part by Tony Hopkin's performance in the movie adaptation). The public fell in love with this anti-hero and wanted more. And Harris gave it to them with the book Hannibal. Now Hannibal Lecter is an amoral monster - he eats people for crying out loud. Unless you're Brett Easton Ellis, it's rather hard to have the major protagonist of your book a completely unlikable monster. So begins the reform of your bad guy.
Now, eating people is kind of nasty, but it is part of the Cannibal's shtick... so lets sure that most of the people he eats are equally as bad as he is.... say a child molester. While we're giving the fans what they want, let's cater to the real sicko's on the net by having Lecter & Clarice Starling fall in love. Now this is rationalised by Lecter claiming he is fascinated by her intellect & reasoning capabilities. So what's Lecter do the first chance hegets? Brainwashes her & turns her into his mindless f#uck-buddy. Giving the readers what they think they want is not always the best thing.
By the way - think I'm going a bit far with this transformation of Lecter into some kind of hero? Then explain this? But I digress...
The second example of this syndrome is the character Spike of BTVS/Angel fame. Now when this character was first introduced he was supposed to be a brutal bloodthirsty killer who had taken out no less than two slayers (a big deal on this show). Now over the course of his many appearances the show has proceeded to de-claw, de-ball & ultimately destroy the character. It gets so bad that for almost an entire season, he is kept a pseudo- prisonerby the good guys who choose not to destroy him because he's got a chip in his head stopping him from doing bad things.
Keep in mind something here. This isn't a human we're talking about here, it's a monster. It's was a well established fact in the Buffy mythos (at least until Spike came along and the rulebook got thrown out) {mythos?? - god, that sounds wanky reading that}, that when a person is transformed into a vampire, they are taken over by a demon - the person they were is destroyed. So Spike isn't a person - he's a monster. A monster that has killed and tortured countless people just because he could Just because he doesn't look as ugly as most of the monsters doesn't explain the reticence to destroy him for two seasons when he was at their mercy. You know what does - giving in to fanboys and catering to the anti-hero syndrome. Of course, it's also convenient that the only thing that his chip allows him to hit isbad guys - further helping his transformation from cool character to Angel 2.0 replacement. Lame.
Which brings me via a long-winded & convoluted path to what I originally wanted to talk about - the Atticus Kodiak books by Greg Rucka. These books (Keeper, Finder, Smoker, Shooting at Midnight & Critical Space) tell the stories of Kodiak - a Personal Security Agent, or bodyguard, and the people he protects. The first two books I really enjoyed quite a bit. They seem fairly accurate and grounded in reality. When people got shot it tended to really hurt instead of being a minor inconvenience. Perhaps it says something about being a member of the X Files generation that I didn't really blink when it came to the second books plot about a cancelled black ops slush fund.
Book three is where I felt things started to hit the skids. In this book - Smoker - the villain of the piece is a current popular one - Big American Tobacco - who is trying to silence a former employee before hetestifies as to how evil and nasty his former employers were in creating an addictive product. The way they do this is by hiring a professional assassin - in this case one of the Ten - as the name implies one of the ten deadliest assassins in the world. And Atticus is hired to protect the target from these unwanted attentions. Now through good planning, hard work and allot of luck, Atticus & his team manage to protect the target - but it's made perfectly clear that this was by no means an easy job. The book itself is still a good read which I enjoyed. It stays pretty much true to the characters and doesn't stretch its credibility too far (no more than you'd expect in a thriller). The problem lies in the seeds planted for future books in the form of the assassin Atticus & co. fight against - the assassin known as Drama.
Now Drama is a classic poster-child for Anti-Hero Syndrome. She's a cool character with a mysterious, shady past. She's ultra-competent - almost literally able to hand the so-called hero his arse on a number of occasions. And because we're teased by the character and only get the briefest glimpse of who she really is, we're left wanting more. And like so many authors before him, Rucka feels obliged to respond.
We come to the plot of the fifth book - Critical Space (the fourth book being more of a detour into the past history of Kodiak's on again/off again sometimes girlfriend's past - so much a detour that it almost isn't a Kodiak book... but I digress...). So what's the plot of this book? In a nut-shell - because a journalist wrote a book based on the events of the third book, other member's of the Ten decide that Drama has come too close to lifting the lid on the secret underworld they live in - and have decided it's time to rub her out. And Drama's response?Disappear into retirement never to be seen again? Nope. Kill the killers before they get to her? Nope. She instead decides to kidnap the latest person Kodiak has been hired to protect in order to barter the kidnapped person's life in exchange for Atticus's services in protecting Drama. That's right - she wants to hire the guy who protected his previous client through mostly sheer luck and who obviously can't protect his current client - witness the successful kidnapping - because he can somehow protect Drama from another member of the Ten??? Hello??? Excuse me??? This belief is based on what??? That he got lucky once??? What rational reason is there other than "Shit, I've gotta work out away to reintroduce this cool character into my story and I've go no idea how. I know - she can hire him as a bodyguard." What possible purpose can Kodiak serve as a bodyguard? Moving target maybe. But Rucka's already demonstrated on multiple occasions that Drama is more skillful, better equipped, better trained and generally a superior athlete. I'm stumped as well...
Leaving aside the basic idea that practically there's no real purpose behind hiring Kodiak as a bodyguard, let's look at the second problem - Drama is a monster. She takes money - sums in the seven figure range - to kill people - quite successfully I might add. She has no qualms about doing so, and doesn't worry about why she's doing this or for what purpose the killing is for. Heck - Atticus himself states on a number of occasions that she's a monster. Yet at the end of the day he agrees to help her - even though he's coerced; even though she's a killer. Seems crazy right? Even Kodiak's own friends point out this discrepancy to him. And yet he ignores them and goes along with this.
And that is my problem with anti-hero syndrome. If you're going to make the bad guy (or gal) out to be a monster, then there has to be some kind of come-uppance to them. If the Hero is in the situationto finish off, or defeat of capture, or punish the bad guy, then that is what the Hero is suppose to do if they are going to stay the hero. Otherwise, the Hero has sold-out all for the sake of keeping the cool anti-hero. Joss Whedon (or more precisely Marti Noxon- the twit who
Of course, that could just be my misguided opinion..
[Listening to: Gomez - In Our Gun - Ballad Of Nice & Easy (2:51)]
Sunday, February 20, 2005
Hi, My name is Grant and I have a problem.
Can you get enough dice? Well, I can't.
You have to have enough so that when they get cursed and start rolling bad you can place them back in the dice-box-of-decursing and restrive a fresh die. ;~]
Today I was searching around on the net for the dice manufacturers web sites when I stumbled upon Crystal Caste Dice.
So what? Another dice manufacturer. Well, no. THIS MOB IS NUTS!
Crystal Caste have a variety of product lines (click the titles for complete listings):
Crystal Dice
These are elongcated instead of the traditional polyhedral dice.
Dwarven Metal
Cast from Steel, Copper or Brass.
Dwarven Stones
These are actually made of stone, eg: Obsidian, Quartz, Red Jasper, Yellow Jade, Hematite, Synthetic Opal, etc...
Some are actually insane. Silver or Gold-Plated Silver.
Or weird: Bone, yes actual Bone (so they claim).
Then there is the Extroadinary Dwarven Stones
These are the rare and completely nuts dice:
Meteorite Dwarven Stones
Dinosaur Dwarven Stones
Green Jade Dwarven Stones
Tiger Eye Dwarven Stones
Don't forget the Dice Jewellery. Especially your D20 Pendants and Earrings in varying Stone, Bone and Metal.
And what dice nut would be complete without Solid or Stackable, stone Icehouse Pyramids
Now I am all for ridiculous amounts of dice (multi-tiered tackle-box-style cases full), and the stone ones are cool but impractical (you are just gonna screw up a wooden table), the bone ones are funky but no way would i be buying pendants, earrings, "icehouse pramids" or dice carved from meteorites or fossilised dinosaur bones.
You have to have enough so that when they get cursed and start rolling bad you can place them back in the dice-box-of-decursing and restrive a fresh die. ;~]
Today I was searching around on the net for the dice manufacturers web sites when I stumbled upon Crystal Caste Dice.
So what? Another dice manufacturer. Well, no. THIS MOB IS NUTS!
Crystal Caste have a variety of product lines (click the titles for complete listings):
Crystal Dice
These are elongcated instead of the traditional polyhedral dice.
Dwarven Metal
Cast from Steel, Copper or Brass.
Dwarven Stones
These are actually made of stone, eg: Obsidian, Quartz, Red Jasper, Yellow Jade, Hematite, Synthetic Opal, etc...
Some are actually insane. Silver or Gold-Plated Silver.
Or weird: Bone, yes actual Bone (so they claim).
Then there is the Extroadinary Dwarven Stones
These are the rare and completely nuts dice:
Meteorite Dwarven Stones
Dinosaur Dwarven Stones
Green Jade Dwarven Stones
Tiger Eye Dwarven Stones
Don't forget the Dice Jewellery. Especially your D20 Pendants and Earrings in varying Stone, Bone and Metal.
And what dice nut would be complete without Solid or Stackable, stone Icehouse Pyramids
Now I am all for ridiculous amounts of dice (multi-tiered tackle-box-style cases full), and the stone ones are cool but impractical (you are just gonna screw up a wooden table), the bone ones are funky but no way would i be buying pendants, earrings, "icehouse pramids" or dice carved from meteorites or fossilised dinosaur bones.
The Five-Billion-Star Hotel
Need to get away from it all? Popular Science presents an exclusive tour of CSS Skywalker, an orbital resort that’s a lot closer to reality than you might think.
Click here for the article
Click here for the article
Saturday, February 19, 2005
Thursday, February 17, 2005
Monday, February 14, 2005
Saturday, February 12, 2005
Friday, February 11, 2005
Historical Precedent
Thursday, February 10, 2005
Strange...
...how a person who's been dead for seven years can have a song at number 36 in the 2005 Triple J Hottest 100...
[Listening to: Rammstein - Live at the Maxx - Du riechst so gut (5:01)]
Do as I say, not as I have done.
I was watching the news today and saw an article where the United States, France and England have told the Iranians to stop their nuclear program to create atomic weapons.
Thats right, spearheaded by the nation with the largest Nuclear Arsenal known to mankind is saying do as I say, not as I have done.
Well, while watching an episode of The West Wing recently, the US President met with the Iranian Prime Minister to tell him to stop building nukes. The interesting part is that the character of the Iranian PM said something to the effect of: "If the US had it their way, there would be only one nuclear power. The US."
How very f*cking true. The US were the first to create nuclear weaponry, the only nation to use them and have created the largest stockpile.
Well you stupid wankers, you created them for defence, now you expect the rest of the world to just let you be the only ones with them. Get F*cked.
Thats right, spearheaded by the nation with the largest Nuclear Arsenal known to mankind is saying do as I say, not as I have done.
Well, while watching an episode of The West Wing recently, the US President met with the Iranian Prime Minister to tell him to stop building nukes. The interesting part is that the character of the Iranian PM said something to the effect of: "If the US had it their way, there would be only one nuclear power. The US."
How very f*cking true. The US were the first to create nuclear weaponry, the only nation to use them and have created the largest stockpile.
Well you stupid wankers, you created them for defence, now you expect the rest of the world to just let you be the only ones with them. Get F*cked.
Wednesday, February 09, 2005
Death of Hubble
NASA budget would kill Hubble
With the moon on its horizon, NASA sees a slight increase in the budget proposed by President Bush on Monday, but it's not enough to save the Hubble Space Telescope.
Only $93 million in the space agency's $16.45 billion budget would go toward Hubble's survival: $75 million to develop a kamikaze robot that would steer the orbiting observatory into the ocean at the end of its lifetime, and $18 million to try to eke out as much scientific observing time as possible from the telescope through clever remote controlling.
No money is in the budget to send either a robotic repairman or shuttle astronauts to Hubble to extend its lifetime, a decision that is sure to anger astronomers and members of Congress.
...
More Here
With the moon on its horizon, NASA sees a slight increase in the budget proposed by President Bush on Monday, but it's not enough to save the Hubble Space Telescope.
Only $93 million in the space agency's $16.45 billion budget would go toward Hubble's survival: $75 million to develop a kamikaze robot that would steer the orbiting observatory into the ocean at the end of its lifetime, and $18 million to try to eke out as much scientific observing time as possible from the telescope through clever remote controlling.
No money is in the budget to send either a robotic repairman or shuttle astronauts to Hubble to extend its lifetime, a decision that is sure to anger astronomers and members of Congress.
...
More Here
[Listening to: Space Man - Babylon Zoo - (5:41)]
Tuesday, February 08, 2005
When it rains...
So...I have been looking for work now since about April of 2004...I have applied for several hundreds of positions over the last months. After way too many immediate knockbacks and too many interviews for me to count I end up with, not one, but TWO JOB OFFERS!.
Needless to say that I have accepted one of them.
I am now a Software Developer for Multinail, Manufacturers and Suppliers of Quality Metal Connectors, Machinery, Software and Engineering for the Pre-Fabricated Timber Truss Industry, working on the Factory Management System
Needless to say that I have accepted one of them.
I am now a Software Developer for Multinail, Manufacturers and Suppliers of Quality Metal Connectors, Machinery, Software and Engineering for the Pre-Fabricated Timber Truss Industry, working on the Factory Management System
Monday, February 07, 2005
Damn....
Reviews of Alone in the Dark.
From Slant Magazine
"Saying Uwe Boll's Alone in the Dark is better than his 2003 American debut House of the Dead is akin to praising syphilis for not being HIV."
From the Atlanta Journal-Constitution
"Alone in the Dark co-stars perpetual party-girl Tara Reid as an archeologist. That alone should give you some clue as to how bad this movie is."
Yes - that Tara Reid.
The one who didn't notice when her dress fell off in front of a whole bunch of photographers...
From Slant Magazine
"Saying Uwe Boll's Alone in the Dark is better than his 2003 American debut House of the Dead is akin to praising syphilis for not being HIV."
From the Atlanta Journal-Constitution
"Alone in the Dark co-stars perpetual party-girl Tara Reid as an archeologist. That alone should give you some clue as to how bad this movie is."
Yes - that Tara Reid.
The one who didn't notice when her dress fell off in front of a whole bunch of photographers...
[Listening to: Green Day - Dookie - Emenius sleepus (1:44)]
It's been a long time...
First, there was Magical Trevor. Everyone loves Magical Trevor, 'cos the tricks that he does are ever so clever.
Now - see the brilliance of Magical Trevor 2!!! He's back and he's got a new trick - Magical Trevor is ten times as slick as the last time...
Now - see the brilliance of Magical Trevor 2!!! He's back and he's got a new trick - Magical Trevor is ten times as slick as the last time...
Sunday, February 06, 2005
Friday, February 04, 2005
Tuesday, February 01, 2005
Monday, January 31, 2005
Friday, January 28, 2005
Asteroid named after ‘Hitchhiker’ humorist
Douglas Adams, creator of the Hitchhiker's Guide To The Galaxy, has joined the celestials . . . he has an asteroid named after him. and not just any asteroid. This particular space rock was chosen because it carried the provisional designation 2001 DA42 . . . that is:
* the year of his death
* his initials
* and, of course, the answer to the question of Life, the Universe, and Everything.
More Here
* the year of his death
* his initials
* and, of course, the answer to the question of Life, the Universe, and Everything.
More Here
[Listening to: The Best Of CD 2 - 03 - Wickerman (rec. 1997) - Bruce Dickinson - (4:40)]
Thursday, January 27, 2005
Rain...
...sucks. I don't care about the crops. I don't care about the cattle. All I know is that it's interfering with my cricket. And that's the most important thing.
[Listening to: Royal Crown Revue - Passport To Australia - Bye Bye Blackbird (6:37)]
Wednesday, January 26, 2005
Tuesday, January 25, 2005
An Eye for a F*CKING Eye
In the last two days I have heard of three instances of sickening animal cruelty:
1. Some mal-adjust decided it would be a good idea to break a kittens leg.
2. A couple of mentally deficient f*cktards were having fun throwing a cat up against a wall repetedly, inflicting multiple broken bones and who knows what other injuries.
3. A moronic chunk of gene pool algae decided to dump fuel on a cat and set it alight.
ENOUGH IS F*CKING ENOUGH!
When are we going to get some serious punishment for these types of crimes? After all, as it has been proven, it is people with a history of animal abuse that become murderers and serial killers.
Here is my suggested punishment.
1. I figure that a kitten is about a 20th to a 30th of the volume of a human. So lets let cats have their just vengeance. Now I am not advocating that we get a cat that is 20 to 30 times the size of a human because I am not aware of any in existance. So I sugest we get a cat more the size of a human, say a tiger or a lion, and give it a few hours to try an break the humans leg. Of course we would want to make sure that the cat is going to exact its vengeance agaist its smaller bretheren so we will make sure it is overdue for a feed by a few days.
2. Lock them in a room with a similar tiger or lion and wait until the offender has attempted to thow it up agianst the wall or until the cat gets hungry.
3. Petroluem shower. Zippo. Get the point?
1. Some mal-adjust decided it would be a good idea to break a kittens leg.
2. A couple of mentally deficient f*cktards were having fun throwing a cat up against a wall repetedly, inflicting multiple broken bones and who knows what other injuries.
3. A moronic chunk of gene pool algae decided to dump fuel on a cat and set it alight.
ENOUGH IS F*CKING ENOUGH!
When are we going to get some serious punishment for these types of crimes? After all, as it has been proven, it is people with a history of animal abuse that become murderers and serial killers.
Here is my suggested punishment.
1. I figure that a kitten is about a 20th to a 30th of the volume of a human. So lets let cats have their just vengeance. Now I am not advocating that we get a cat that is 20 to 30 times the size of a human because I am not aware of any in existance. So I sugest we get a cat more the size of a human, say a tiger or a lion, and give it a few hours to try an break the humans leg. Of course we would want to make sure that the cat is going to exact its vengeance agaist its smaller bretheren so we will make sure it is overdue for a feed by a few days.
2. Lock them in a room with a similar tiger or lion and wait until the offender has attempted to thow it up agianst the wall or until the cat gets hungry.
3. Petroluem shower. Zippo. Get the point?
Sunday, January 23, 2005
Saturday, January 22, 2005
INTERESTING STUFF FOUND WHILE SURFING THROUGH THE IN NOMINE STYLE GUIDE
One thing I have always liked about Steve Jackson Games' material is the always apparent sense of humor.
To see what I mean have a look at the Tech Level descriptions for weapons and health in the GURPS Basic Set (unsure about Fourth Edition).
I was surfing through the In Nomine Style Guide earlier today and found this section on describing skills in a character writeup:
Skill (Specialty One/Level, Specialty Two/Level, Specialty Three/Level)
Gene's example was:
Ranged Weapon (Chrysler Building/1, Wienermobile/3, My Ego/7)
(However, skills do not go above 6! We'll make an exception for Gene's ego...)
To see what I mean have a look at the Tech Level descriptions for weapons and health in the GURPS Basic Set (unsure about Fourth Edition).
I was surfing through the In Nomine Style Guide earlier today and found this section on describing skills in a character writeup:
Skill (Specialty One/Level, Specialty Two/Level, Specialty Three/Level)
Gene's example was:
Ranged Weapon (Chrysler Building/1, Wienermobile/3, My Ego/7)
(However, skills do not go above 6! We'll make an exception for Gene's ego...)
[Listening to: Powertrip - 03 - Space Lord - Monster Magnet - (5:55)]
Now here's an interesting job:
Job Description: Advocate, plan, and execute T&E activities for the Defense Information Systems Agency's Teleport Program Office. Serve as the key consultant to government clients for the execution of T&E processes associated with Development Test and Operational Test activities.
Job Type: Consultant Information Technology
Req'd Education: 4 Year Degree
Req'd Experience: More than 5 Years
Req'd Travel: Not Specified
Relocation Covered: No
More Here
Now you would think that they would be honest with the Required Travel and that it wouldn't be too difficult to relocate the successful applicant.
Job Type: Consultant Information Technology
Req'd Education: 4 Year Degree
Req'd Experience: More than 5 Years
Req'd Travel: Not Specified
Relocation Covered: No
More Here
Now you would think that they would be honest with the Required Travel and that it wouldn't be too difficult to relocate the successful applicant.
[Listening to: Cryptic Writings - 05 - The Disintegrators - Megadeth - (0:-1)]
Thursday, January 20, 2005
Now Why Didn't I think of That?
As I posted a short while ago, I have a new mobile phone handset. One thing I had discovered about it was that the rear cover was quite difficult to remove (the instructions failed to mention that another button should be pressed at the same time). Fortunately, I had people on hand who were willing to help out and finally the mystery was solved.
Some people, are not so lucky. So what do they do?
Apparently, they call 000. Because they're arsetards.
(PS: Hint: Do not do this.)
Some people, are not so lucky. So what do they do?
Apparently, they call 000. Because they're arsetards.
(PS: Hint: Do not do this.)
e23
News from The Daily Illuminator:
Finally: e23!
We are delighted to report that, at long last, our
e23 site is up and running. Our thanks to
everyone who made this possible . . . especially perl goddess Kira, the patient
testers on the W23 staff, the Men In Black who beta-tested, editor Scott Haring
. . . and to Phil Reed, who laid a lot of the groundwork during his time at SJ
Games and whose own company, Ronin Arts, is well represented in our initial PDF
offerings.
Finally: e23!
We are delighted to report that, at long last, our
e23 site is up and running. Our thanks to
everyone who made this possible . . . especially perl goddess Kira, the patient
testers on the W23 staff, the Men In Black who beta-tested, editor Scott Haring
. . . and to Phil Reed, who laid a lot of the groundwork during his time at SJ
Games and whose own company, Ronin Arts, is well represented in our initial PDF
offerings.
Through e23, you can buy a
wide variety of digital products . . . mostly PDFs, but software as well.
Right now, in addition to our own material, we have items from Ronin Arts,
Alter Ego Software, and Atomic Sock Monkey. Now that we're actually online, we
expect to be adding more vendors regularly. And more features, and more
different kinds of product. We're going to continue to develop
e23 and increase its interoperability with
Warehouse 23, with our product pages,
and with other parts of our site. Already, for instance, this is the place to
purchase subscriptions to Pyramid
and JTAS.
Please note that this is not one of those sites where anyone can log in,
upload just anything, and ask you for money. Everything that's here is here
because we can count on that vendor to offer a quality product.
Go to e23 and see what we've got. Start
with the freebies, to see how the process works and get an idea of our quality
standard . . . and we hope you'll become a regular customer.
And please give us your feedback on the
forums!
-- Steve Jackson
[Listening to: 1916 - 05 - Nightmare - The Dreamtime - Motörhead - (4:40)]
Cactus
104-0451_IMG, originally uploaded by JamesA.
104-0452_IMG, originally uploaded by JamesA.
104-0468_IMG, originally uploaded by JamesA.
104-0462_IMG, originally uploaded by JamesA.
104-0471_IMG, originally uploaded by JamesA.
104-0478_IMG, originally uploaded by JamesA.
104-0457_IMG, originally uploaded by JamesA.
104-0459_IMG, originally uploaded by JamesA.
104-0468_IMG, originally uploaded by JamesA.
104-0468_IMG, originally uploaded by JamesA.
104-0462_IMG, originally uploaded by JamesA.
IMGP0376, originally uploaded by JamesA.
Most people would remember the cactus that has been planted in my front yard for god knows how long. For a long while we all thought it was dead, but just recently it's put on quite a growth spurt - resulting in these flowers which have bloomed over the last few nights.
[Listening to: Nirvana - Nirvana Box Set (Chinese Retail) CD03 - Stay Away (3:33)]
Tuesday, January 18, 2005
Taxi drivers of Canberra are now safe
September 29, 2004.
"I'm ready to lead. He's ready to leave."
January 18, 2005.
Who's leaving now?
"I'm ready to lead. He's ready to leave."
January 18, 2005.
Who's leaving now?
[Listening to: Queens Of The Stone Age - Queens Of The Stone Age - Avon (3:22)]
Worth1000 is always interesting...
...for stuff like this:
One of the recent photoshop contests was to bring masterpieces to life:
This was taken from a Dali work entitled: Christ of Saint John of the Cross
Here is another taken from the Persistance of Memory:
One of the recent photoshop contests was to bring masterpieces to life:
This was taken from a Dali work entitled: Christ of Saint John of the Cross
Here is another taken from the Persistance of Memory:
[Listening to: Piece of Mind - 05 - The Trooper - Iron Maiden - (4:10)]
Monday, January 17, 2005
Sunday, January 16, 2005
Wired 13.01: The BitTorrent Effect
Wired 13.01: The BitTorrent Effect - a very interesting read about the file sharing protocol and the guy who created it.
Saturday, January 15, 2005
Dirt Harry rocks
This is why I love Clint Eastwood.
"Michael Moore and I actually have a lot in common - we both appreciate living in a country where there's free expression," Eastwood told the star-dotted crowd attending the National Board of Review awards dinner at Tavern on the Green, where Eastwood picked up a Special Filmmaking Achievement prize for "Million Dollar Baby."
Then, the Republican-leaning actor/director advised the lefty filmmaker: "But, Michael, if you ever show up at my front door with a camera - I'll kill you."
The audience erupted in laughter, and Eastwood grinned dangerously.
"I mean it," he added, provoking more guffaws.
"Michael Moore and I actually have a lot in common - we both appreciate living in a country where there's free expression," Eastwood told the star-dotted crowd attending the National Board of Review awards dinner at Tavern on the Green, where Eastwood picked up a Special Filmmaking Achievement prize for "Million Dollar Baby."
Then, the Republican-leaning actor/director advised the lefty filmmaker: "But, Michael, if you ever show up at my front door with a camera - I'll kill you."
The audience erupted in laughter, and Eastwood grinned dangerously.
"I mean it," he added, provoking more guffaws.
Friday, January 14, 2005
The bridge is down
A month or so before Christmas, I had a little trouble with my pc when, in the middle of typing a document, it decided to switch itself off. It refused to restart so I was forced to crack the case open and inspect the innards. The culprit of the malfunction was pretty easily identified.
That would be the southbridge. In fact, that would be a blown southbridge. Not very impressed after only owning the board less than three months. But following a certain amount of threatened shoutiness, the board was rightfully replaced.
Still - they're nice pics of the damage.
That would be the southbridge. In fact, that would be a blown southbridge. Not very impressed after only owning the board less than three months. But following a certain amount of threatened shoutiness, the board was rightfully replaced.
Still - they're nice pics of the damage.
[Listening to: Save Ferris - Save Ferris - You And Me (2:29)]
Wednesday, January 12, 2005
Monday, January 10, 2005
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