Happy Thanksgiving!
Thursday, November 22, 2012
Tuesday, November 20, 2012
Things That Should Be Mandatory
I'm going to make this a double feature. I saw two movies this past week, and both of them were inspired, beautiful, and imaginative. Anyone who loves a good movie should see both of them. They take, in no particular order, the number 2 and number 3 slots for the best movies I have seen all year.
Life of Pi Review
The Life of Pi is not just an amazing movie, and you should watch it. It is not just a beautiful script with wonderful actors telling an amazing tale set to vivid and evocative imagery and music that touches on every emotion in the spectrum of human feeling effectively. Yes, it is all of those things, but I also feel that it is the first movie to really prove that a movie can be designed so thoroughly around 3d that the final result simply wouldn't be quite the same if you saw the movie without it.
Every frame of this film is a work of art, and it is fully aware that its story is allegorical. It plays on it, and it makes a powerful impression with impossible images that each stand out as inspired.
The movie has to be taken as a whole. Some of the decisions feel a little clumsy in the beginning of the movie, but over the course of the plot they make more and more sense. Irrfan Khan as older Pi is one of those choices. As the film opens and as we are introduced to older Pi he seems extraordinarily plain in every way. Even his voice lacks anything compelling. As he narrates it becomes clear that his opening is a brilliant stark contrast against the events, and his voice becomes a calm narrative force when everything else feels terrifying and isolating.
Enthralling and captivating contrasts fill the entire film beginning to end. Having read the book, the initial trailers didn't seem to understand what the book meant, or the way it felt. Ang Lee does get it, astoundingly so. Lee gets it and shows it off in the way every animal is captured and in how every single moment is filled with living things.
The only two criticisms of film would be the dialog for the writer. It comes off as a little cheesy and heavy handed. Rafe Spall does what he can with it, and he does well enough that a lot of people may not even agree that it is a little thin. Being contrasted against the beautiful narrative and dialog of Pi Patel may even be the only reason it felt that way. The other would be a very slight heavy handedness of the emphasis on faith in the narrative toward the middle of the film.
About three times the movie made statements that felt forced and unnecessary. The symbolic structure of the movie is so well done that it just was not necessary to have it pointed out so many times. Even if you feel that a certain level of it was needed at some points in the film, it goes just a hair too far, and the audience is not quite left to draw their own conclusions despite being told that they should.
Overall Life of Pi is am amazing work, and a film that is worth watching. Try and find the time to go see it because movies like this just do not get made very often and especially not with a budget like this. Vote with your dollars and let them know that they made the right decision when this movie got funded.
Rise of the Guardians Review
You should watch this movie. I'm starting to sound like a broken record, and I know that two movies in a row is a bit difficult to justify, but that's the plain simple truth. This movie is excellent. It is thoughtful, beautiful, and touching. In some ways it manages to cut deep and rip at something important and essential. It pulls a few of its punches short and those few pulled punches stopped this from being one of the best movies ever made instead of just one of the absolute best animated movies ever made. Even when Rise of the Guardians holds back, it does so beautifully and with grace and you will never even notice.
Peter Ramsay has managed to capture a sense of wonder and amazement in the entire world. All of the major characters manage to deliver something unforgettable to the viewer that speaks to that part of you that loves what belief represents.
The opening is incredibly abrupt. The movie opens almost immediately with the essential exposition that is in all the trailers. There is so much substance to Rise of the Guardians that the film needs to get this information to the audience and out of the way of the narrative as soon as possible.
And the part that's really amazing? The action is intense and meaningful! All of the conflicts and characters are arranged and in play inside of the first ten minutes. Everything is coming together and moving in a whirlwind. The basic elements of the plot start with the rogue good guy joins the organized team of heroes, but it makes this seed into its own thing.
Santa Clause manages to be one of the best Santas put to film. Alec Baldwin delivers his lines superbly. His character is layered, responsible, and feels like a natural leader figure. Jack Frost feels like more than a thin representation of roguish rebellion being forced into a role of responsibility because he is more than that. We are told that it is important to find your core identity early in the film and then we are shown this theme being reinforced throughout the plot.
Jude Law makes his villain sympathetic and plays well off of Jack Frost's character. I make a note of the performances by Alec Baldwin and Jude Law, because they are exceptional; but, Chris Pine, Isla Fisher, and Hugh Jackman each turn in excellent performances.
This movie lives and breaths both spectacle and substance, and on top of it all it has some of the very best action of the entire year. Watch it. You won't regret it.
Tuesday, November 13, 2012
Interview With a Cultural Vampire
Today I will be interviewing Netsenshi. He is a good friend of mine, and also a local photographer and cosplay artist.
DS: So, I thought I'd start out asking about your alternative lifestyle. How long ago did you come out publicly as a cosplayer?
netsenshi: Publicly I came out in 2005
DS: How did that come about?
netsenshi: After having attended a couple anime conventions already, I asked myself two questions. What costumes are popular, and what characters have I not seen cosplayed before. I had noticed there were a lot of costumes from the Squaresoft game Kingdom Hearts, specifically the mushrooms. I then frowned, because my favorite mushroom characters in games are the power ups and Toad's from Super Mario Bros. I was then inspired to make my first costume, The Poison Mushroom, for the anime convention Kamikaze con.
DS: Of the costumes you felt were missing, why start with The Poison Mushroom?
netsenshi: I think I started with him because I thought it would be easy. It's a character that has appeared in only one game, and since it was a power up and not an actual person, It left a lot of room for creative interpretation.
DS: Was it as easy as you thought it would be?
netsenshi: No.
netsenshi: My first attempt is somewhat embarrassing. I used a grim reaper outfit, Halloween makeup for the face, and used about two pillows to make the mushroom cap originally. The hat never stayed in place so I had to modify it there. It was extremely heavy and uncomfortable. The makeup was cheap, and it burned my eyes. I later had to go back to the drawing board and completely redesign the character.
DS: How many different characters have you created costumes for?
netsenshi: Well, I have sketched out many different costumes on paper as well as wanted to do others, but I haven't actually fulfilled a lot of them. I have finished costumes for 10 different characters. The Poison Mushroom has had 3 different incarnations though, so 12 different completed costumes.
DS: So, The Poison Mushroom is the only one you've done multiple times?
netsenshi: I've done a couple different iterations of the 1-Up mushroom. I mainly only count the first costume on that one though, because I only made the cap and recycled the mask from one of my Poison Mushroom costumes. The rest of the costume was different plain clothes, each incorporating the color green when I wore it.
DS: I'm to understand you're one of the minds behind the Pose Off panel that has been circulating around a number of conventions. Maybe you could share a bit about what that is and who you made it with, perhaps give a bit of background about its origination?
netsenshi: The Pose Off first started in 2005 in Austin, Tx at the convention Ushi-Con 4. It was started without a name randomly that sunday with several people present. The main person was my good friend Geoff Greer. I didn't have much to do with that one, but ultimately I helped refine it under the name The Pose Off months later. What the event is, is it's a competition amongst two or more individuals in a period of three rounds. The first two rounds have the contestants repeating the pose of a moderator, while the third round has them come up with their own pose. We used to always try and make it where the contestants would always win one, and force it into the third round, as me and Geoff were big into 2D fighting games like Street Fighter and Guilty Gear. Eventually though, we admitted that the first couple of rounds are more for our entertainment and is a way to help the posers come up with poses for their third round.
DS: You have also created several cosplay and gaming videos, correct?
netsenshi: That's correct.
DS: How did that start?
netsenshi: 10 years ago, my girlfriend at the time showed me how to make music videos to anime in windows movie maker. Later, I started going to anime conventions. I might have been inspired by my friend Marzgurl's anime convention videos, but I eventually decided to make some videos eventually after buying a flip video camera. A year or two later, my friend Evan Normand asked me to make videos on a website with him, and I did that for a year or so. I always intend to make more videos, but I never end up getting around to it.
DS: Why didn't you?
netsenshi: My friend Evan Normand is currently in school, so I ended up having to come up with most of our content. I ultimately got burned out quickly after making several gaming videos for the website www.funwithmirrors.com .After taking what I thought was a shorty break, I attempted to start back up after buying a camera that captures in HD. My other hardware is really old, and conversions take up a lot of time, if they convert at all.
DS: Are you working on any projects currently?
netsenshi: Outside of my blog and future commitments to Louisianime, none come to mind.
netsenshi: I would like to do some Let's Play videos, but I don't know when and if I will get to them any time soon
DS: We are running out of time for today's interview, and I don't want to keep you for too long. Is there anything else you would like to say to my readership before we say goodbye?
netsenshi: Yes. There is. I urge your readers to try many different things, simply on the whim to do so. Do NOT scoff at things because you think they are embarrassing. I could have gone to anime conventions years before my first one, as well as traveled abroad a couple years sooner if I would have done that 100% of the time.
DS: Well, thank you so much for your time, I hope you have a wonderful afternoon!
netsenshi: You as well. Drive carefully
netsenshi: Publicly I came out in 2005
DS: How did that come about?
netsenshi: After having attended a couple anime conventions already, I asked myself two questions. What costumes are popular, and what characters have I not seen cosplayed before. I had noticed there were a lot of costumes from the Squaresoft game Kingdom Hearts, specifically the mushrooms. I then frowned, because my favorite mushroom characters in games are the power ups and Toad's from Super Mario Bros. I was then inspired to make my first costume, The Poison Mushroom, for the anime convention Kamikaze con.
DS: Of the costumes you felt were missing, why start with The Poison Mushroom?
netsenshi: I think I started with him because I thought it would be easy. It's a character that has appeared in only one game, and since it was a power up and not an actual person, It left a lot of room for creative interpretation.
DS: Was it as easy as you thought it would be?
netsenshi: No.
netsenshi: My first attempt is somewhat embarrassing. I used a grim reaper outfit, Halloween makeup for the face, and used about two pillows to make the mushroom cap originally. The hat never stayed in place so I had to modify it there. It was extremely heavy and uncomfortable. The makeup was cheap, and it burned my eyes. I later had to go back to the drawing board and completely redesign the character.
DS: How many different characters have you created costumes for?
netsenshi: Well, I have sketched out many different costumes on paper as well as wanted to do others, but I haven't actually fulfilled a lot of them. I have finished costumes for 10 different characters. The Poison Mushroom has had 3 different incarnations though, so 12 different completed costumes.
DS: So, The Poison Mushroom is the only one you've done multiple times?
netsenshi: I've done a couple different iterations of the 1-Up mushroom. I mainly only count the first costume on that one though, because I only made the cap and recycled the mask from one of my Poison Mushroom costumes. The rest of the costume was different plain clothes, each incorporating the color green when I wore it.
DS: I'm to understand you're one of the minds behind the Pose Off panel that has been circulating around a number of conventions. Maybe you could share a bit about what that is and who you made it with, perhaps give a bit of background about its origination?
DS: You have also created several cosplay and gaming videos, correct?
netsenshi: That's correct.
DS: How did that start?
netsenshi: 10 years ago, my girlfriend at the time showed me how to make music videos to anime in windows movie maker. Later, I started going to anime conventions. I might have been inspired by my friend Marzgurl's anime convention videos, but I eventually decided to make some videos eventually after buying a flip video camera. A year or two later, my friend Evan Normand asked me to make videos on a website with him, and I did that for a year or so. I always intend to make more videos, but I never end up getting around to it.
netsenshi: My friend Evan Normand is currently in school, so I ended up having to come up with most of our content. I ultimately got burned out quickly after making several gaming videos for the website www.funwithmirrors.com .After taking what I thought was a shorty break, I attempted to start back up after buying a camera that captures in HD. My other hardware is really old, and conversions take up a lot of time, if they convert at all.
DS: Are you working on any projects currently?
netsenshi: Outside of my blog and future commitments to Louisianime, none come to mind.
netsenshi: I would like to do some Let's Play videos, but I don't know when and if I will get to them any time soon
DS: We are running out of time for today's interview, and I don't want to keep you for too long. Is there anything else you would like to say to my readership before we say goodbye?
netsenshi: Yes. There is. I urge your readers to try many different things, simply on the whim to do so. Do NOT scoff at things because you think they are embarrassing. I could have gone to anime conventions years before my first one, as well as traveled abroad a couple years sooner if I would have done that 100% of the time.
DS: Well, thank you so much for your time, I hope you have a wonderful afternoon!
netsenshi: You as well. Drive carefully
Sunday, November 11, 2012
It Should Be Like Breathing
“And then I felt sad because I realized that once people are broken in certain ways, they can't ever be fixed, and this is something nobody ever tells you when you are young and it never fails to surprise you as you grow older as you see the people in your life break one by one. You wonder when your turn is going to be, or if it's already happened.”
— Douglas Coupland
Anything I touch is my instrument, be it with words or fingers. It is a mistake to limit the scope of what is art and music.
Thursday, November 08, 2012
Skyfall Review
The plot is overly complicated, which is not necessarily a bad thing on its own. Problems with the overcomplexity arise, however, when halfway through the film the basic execution of the evil scheme could have been done without any planning or forethought. Every climactic culmination of the villain's schemes is reduced down to just marching straight at what they want to kill after a long and complicated plan that appears to have worked but accomplished nothing.
Criticizing a Bond film for being predictable just feels wrong. That is part of the point, after all, however in this case the predictable plot points are so obvious that they are tiring. Skyfall plays its twist cards too early, and then stretches out too long after the fact trying to ride on events of the first half of the movie. The entire last half of the film is pure straightforward resolution without any real story progression.
The absolute best part of the movie is the villain. Silva is played by Javier Bardem, and every second he is in the film is compelling. Daniel Craig also does a superb Bond. The rest of the cast is on par with the superb technical and artistic quality of the film. THe visuals are stunning, and almost every frame is a work of art and every conversation could stand on its own as enjoyable Bond style snippets, so being on par in this case is high praise.
If you love Bond movies, see it anyway. This is not the worst film in the franchise, by far. If you're not a fan, maybe take the time to watch the movie when it comes out on video. It was largely enjoyable. It is certainly a very passable action flick.
Wednesday, November 07, 2012
I Really Can't Help It
Weeds by David Scott
How fast they grow!
They spring from the ground
streaking right up to my hip.
I can't rip them up fast enough!
For every one I yank out,
four burst out!
My hands torn raw,
my arms exhausted,
without progress.
Tomorrow I'll call a lawn service.
How fast they grow!
They spring from the ground
streaking right up to my hip.
I can't rip them up fast enough!
For every one I yank out,
four burst out!
My hands torn raw,
my arms exhausted,
without progress.
Tomorrow I'll call a lawn service.
Tuesday, November 06, 2012
Fried Cornish Game Hen?
So, I'm going to have a small thanksgiving gathering at my house in the evening after I have spent the morning with family. Not enough people will be there to justify a turkey, so after a little bit of thought I decided to do fried cornish game hens, which will feel like overkill in a turkey frier.
I've started looking up some recipes:
Fried Cornish Game Hens
Whole Berry Cranberry Sauce(made some of the best EVER last year)
Sweet potato recipes(I might do sweet potato gnocchi with butter sage sauce)
Pie!
Veggies
I will keep updating as I consider what to make for the day, but I'm excited to have started thinking about it. For the veggies I am considering green bean, or possibly corn. Hard to go wrong with either of those. Anyone who'd like to come and is able to is absolutely welcome, I'd love to see everyone I love that day.
Monday, November 05, 2012
Wreck it, Ralph.
So, loved Wreck it Ralph. It isn't anything new, but everything it does, it does do very well. The film makes excellent use of its talent. John C. Reilley's performance is likeable and humorous. Sarah Silverman manages to pull off a mildly annoying, sympathetic, and entertaining character. So, she basically plays herself, but less vulgar than usual.
A game like this probably could have gotten by on just the cameos of famous game characters alone. A lot of people really thought that's all they would get, but Wreck It Ralph manages to deliver an engaging story and use the myriad of game characters as set dressing rather than a crutch. The story doesn't feel either new, or fresh, but it has some original ideas that, and what isn't new is pretty classic.
It's one of the best movies I have seen all summer, really. I highly recommend it.
By the way, I am looking forward to failing NaNoWriMo this year.
Sunday, November 04, 2012
Thursday, November 01, 2012
It's All Noise
Finished reading A Feast for Crows last night, and so this morning I read through Signal to Noise in an hour. Loved it. Then moved on and started reading Pirate Cinema by Cory Doctorow. He's probably my favorite author right now.
Tonight I am going to go see a screening of Wreck it Ralph! I will let you know what I think of it tomorrow morning or afternoon or never.
Monday, October 29, 2012
Just Saw Looper
I liked it! I think what I liked best about Looper was that almost none of what made it engaging was in the trailer. There was a whole story here that I was unprepared for, and it was reasonably well told. Very exciting and surprising.
I also finished reading The Pillars of Creation by Terry Goodkind and posted my review over on
I also finished reading The Pillars of Creation by Terry Goodkind and posted my review over on
Thursday, October 25, 2012
Cloud Atlas
Cloud Atlas does a lot of things right. It manages to weave together a set of stories that are each substantial in their own right. The visuals are spot on and well done, the acting is outstanding, and the audio mixing manages to be some of the best in recent memory. There are a few hangups that keep it from being a truly exceptional film. It is a little hung up on its own cleverness, making it feel a bit pretentious about things that are pretty obvious or been done.
Impressive use of symbolism, colors, and imagery help tie the stories together early and often. By the time you get to the end the definitive connection between the narratives at the end, the links are still a little thinner than might have been optimal. Cloud Atlas manages to compensate for this through all of the methods the film uses to link the stories together outside of the narrative, using all the actors in every story, or the beautiful musical themes. This is probably the greatest strength of the movie.
In fact, these accomplishments are so positive that the film is already a success by the time its negatives show up. A lot of its turns are just way too obvious, and have been done better elsewhere. It is 2012, is the audience still supposed to be shocked that Soylent Green is people? When you see it, you'll know what I am talking about, and you will probably find it as laughable as I did. The only thing it does worse than pull twists that are obvious and trite is to act as though they are original and powerful and meaningful observations and metaphors. I did notice that the newspeak dialect that was spoken in the far future story managed to be difficult enough that the actors didn't quite make it feel natural and fluid.
Overall, Cloud Atlas is a solid movie. If you don't have the patience for disjointed story telling, the movie probably isn't for you. The action and special effects definitely aren't enough to make the movie appeal to a crowd that doesn't have the patience to work through the narrative, and there is a very real barrier there. It makes sense by the end, but you have to be willing to spend the whole movie actively asking questions and looking carefully for the answers.
Maybe if its plot twists had been a little less sill, and even preachy, this could easily have been a classic for all time. As it is, it's probably in the top two or three movies all year. Watch it.
Wednesday, October 17, 2012
Fluff
It's pretty exciting to see an Humble Indie bundle do an entire bundle of novels. I went ahead and picked it up because it looked so exciting and had some of my favorite authors in it.
I have wanted to read more Cory Doctorow for a while now ever since I read Little Brother, and Pirate Cinema looks like a great place to start. Also, I have been reading more and more by Gaiman, and it is all amazing. Smoke and Mirrors was incredibly enjoyable, with some beautiful stories. He's also very accomplished as a graphic novelist, so Signal to Noise looks fascinating.
Everything in this pack looks delightful, though. I'll certainly be posting about it as I read and dropping down some reviews over at The Dangling Colloquy.
I have wanted to read more Cory Doctorow for a while now ever since I read Little Brother, and Pirate Cinema looks like a great place to start. Also, I have been reading more and more by Gaiman, and it is all amazing. Smoke and Mirrors was incredibly enjoyable, with some beautiful stories. He's also very accomplished as a graphic novelist, so Signal to Noise looks fascinating.
Everything in this pack looks delightful, though. I'll certainly be posting about it as I read and dropping down some reviews over at The Dangling Colloquy.
Tuesday, September 25, 2012
Thursday, September 20, 2012
Chains and Words Excite Me
Sometimes dumb chain messages can be awesome:
Game analysis, as a part of social psychiatry, is only interested in describing the game when it does occur regardless of how often that may be.
It's international book week. The rules: Grab the closest book to you, turn to page 52, post the 5th sentence as your status. Don't mention the title. Copy the rules as part of your status.
Game analysis, as a part of social psychiatry, is only interested in describing the game when it does occur regardless of how often that may be.
It's international book week. The rules: Grab the closest book to you, turn to page 52, post the 5th sentence as your status. Don't mention the title. Copy the rules as part of your status.
Monday, September 10, 2012
A Game of Poems: Who is Playing?
How I didn't know any
word for it how "unlikely". . .
How had I come to be here,
like them, and overhear
a cry of pain that could have
got loud and worse but hadn't?
word for it how "unlikely". . .
How had I come to be here,
like them, and overhear
a cry of pain that could have
got loud and worse but hadn't?
Thursday, September 06, 2012
Things I'm Excited About
This... a million times this:
This is the very first video available for the game Wasteland 2. Wasteland 2 is being developed by Brian Fargo, using a talented cast of writers, musicians, artists and programmers.
With many of the collaborators on this project having experience directly with the writing and design of Fallout 1 and 2 and Planescape: Torment(though let it be known that Fallout only exists because at the time Fargo didn't have the license to produce a sequel to his own game, which came first, Wasteland), Wasteland 2 has the pedigree and experience and vision behind it to perhaps be one of the best RPGs ever made. Ever. Even if it isn't, and that's nothing to be ashamed of because Planescape: Torment is an incredibly high bar, this game is still set to be GOOD.
This:
Shadowrun Returns is only a month or so into development and the team at Harebrained-Schemes already has a beautifully styled world evolving in their concept art that is readily apparent in everything they're doing, as well as already releasing stories for flavor to give a feel for the world they are developing for. Their work is incredibly awesome and I am loving everything I see and I hope they continue to be as public about their development in the future as they have been up till now.
The Two Guys from Andromeda's current project, SpaceVenture:
Space Quest was one of the primary games of my formative years. The humor and story telling, characters, and puzzles are still with me to this day. The fact that the original creators are back to make a spiritual successor to a great intellectual property is simply amazing.
Well, folks, that's the short list. THere's more, but I'll save that for another day.
This is the very first video available for the game Wasteland 2. Wasteland 2 is being developed by Brian Fargo, using a talented cast of writers, musicians, artists and programmers.
With many of the collaborators on this project having experience directly with the writing and design of Fallout 1 and 2 and Planescape: Torment(though let it be known that Fallout only exists because at the time Fargo didn't have the license to produce a sequel to his own game, which came first, Wasteland), Wasteland 2 has the pedigree and experience and vision behind it to perhaps be one of the best RPGs ever made. Ever. Even if it isn't, and that's nothing to be ashamed of because Planescape: Torment is an incredibly high bar, this game is still set to be GOOD.
This:
Shadowrun Returns is only a month or so into development and the team at Harebrained-Schemes already has a beautifully styled world evolving in their concept art that is readily apparent in everything they're doing, as well as already releasing stories for flavor to give a feel for the world they are developing for. Their work is incredibly awesome and I am loving everything I see and I hope they continue to be as public about their development in the future as they have been up till now.
The Two Guys from Andromeda's current project, SpaceVenture:
Space Quest was one of the primary games of my formative years. The humor and story telling, characters, and puzzles are still with me to this day. The fact that the original creators are back to make a spiritual successor to a great intellectual property is simply amazing.
Well, folks, that's the short list. THere's more, but I'll save that for another day.
Wednesday, September 05, 2012
Raise Your Jolly Roger in the Name of Inevitability
So, Cambodia, which does not have an extradition treaty with Sweden, and certainly has no problem letting your average fugitive run free, generally for more horrendous crimes than making it slightly easier to find and download copyrighted music and videos, has detained the co-founder of The Pirate Bay. They don't even have a law that on its face allows them to detain and extradite a fugitive from Sweden, but they are working very hard to find one under which they can do it anyway.
This smells. This really stinks of a deal poisoned with money.
I'm not worried though. This isn't even an issue of right and wrong. This is an issue of inevitability and reality. These industries in their death are trying to hold back a flood with their hands rather than learning to swim. Some people will go to jail, but it's a losing battle.
You cannot fight piracy by trying to lock down your data. It is impossible, the very act of making your data available to anyone breaks this. People are generally willing to pay for service. I recommend that they start fighting piracy by making a product that competes with it instead of one that is inferior to it.
I buy my games from steam because even though they can track what I've done they provide the amazing service of maintaining my library and making my games available to me whenever and wherever I go along with more and more cloud saves. In contrast, 10 years ago, every single game I purchased I had to find a cd crack for in order to keep from having to root around through my CDs or dvds to get to whatever games I felt like playing that day.
The future is here. Sink or swim.
Monday, August 27, 2012
I Will Be King of the Monsters
I will escape and run away, and I will find where the wild things are, and I will be their new king. Till I get bored and lonely and want to go home.
I will witness miracles and awesome forces of nature destroy the world and rebuild it and destroy it again. And I will be a force of nature. Burn the world.
Music Ought to Make You...
Melissa Nicole covers Glad You Came by The Wanted
Lately I have been thinking about some things.
Lately I have been thinking about some things.
Tuesday, August 14, 2012
Everything is Music
Today has been a really relaxing and beautiful day so far. I've enjoyed doing quite a bit of reading this morning. I'm almost done with the third Sword of Truth book, and I've also gotten pretty far through A Clash of Kings. I'm a little over halfway through the story, and so far I am loving it. Also, last night I went and read through the last 4 issues of The Walking Dead that I was behind on.
I've kindof slowed down on reading The Sandman, the second graphic novel just isn't as involving to me as the first was, it hasn't managed to make me feel invested in the characters. That may be my problem and not the book's though.
This weekend I ate at the Brick House with my parents, I like it, but last week I got to try out a new bar called The Hay Merchant. I liked it immensely and I'd like to introduce my parents to it, I think they would enjoy it a lot. The beer and food were excellent and they had reasonable prices, too.
This week I feel like doing some cooking, though I don't know what to cook, yet. If anyone has any suggestions, I am open to them, just post them in my comments below. I am planning on stopping by the grocery store on the way home. While I'm there, maybe something will pop out at me that I will be impressed with.
Anyway, I have some cool new projects that I've started on, looking forward to actually showing them off when they reach a state of more maturity.
I've kindof slowed down on reading The Sandman, the second graphic novel just isn't as involving to me as the first was, it hasn't managed to make me feel invested in the characters. That may be my problem and not the book's though.
This weekend I ate at the Brick House with my parents, I like it, but last week I got to try out a new bar called The Hay Merchant. I liked it immensely and I'd like to introduce my parents to it, I think they would enjoy it a lot. The beer and food were excellent and they had reasonable prices, too.
This week I feel like doing some cooking, though I don't know what to cook, yet. If anyone has any suggestions, I am open to them, just post them in my comments below. I am planning on stopping by the grocery store on the way home. While I'm there, maybe something will pop out at me that I will be impressed with.
Anyway, I have some cool new projects that I've started on, looking forward to actually showing them off when they reach a state of more maturity.
Wednesday, August 08, 2012
Love and Darkness and My Sidearm
I like singers with scratchy voices and sad songs. I also like singers with all kinds of voices and amazingly beautiful songs.
Some days I just feel a little depressed, and it's like nothing in the world can make me feel better. I know that life is good, but it just all feels bad. Everything is bleakest when I feel like I am in the dark, and I don't know where I'm going or if I am doing the right thing. Sometimes I'm worried that there isn't a right decision and that I am left with the difficult choice of two bad decisions. During those times, I find that I am lucky enough to stumble on a ray of light that shines brighter than it would at any other time. It is almost universally love.
Love and darkness seem to go hand in hand together in a beautiful way, both at my side in the world.
And I always carry my sidearm. My sidearm is a puppy. A beautiful little puppy who hails from a field of wildflowers and represents your mortality.
She represents your mortality like a motherfucker.
- No moon in the still heaven,
- In the black water none
Tuesday, August 07, 2012
Like the Dark Ages
So, I quit Comcast about a month ago and started using the basic service from Clear internet. A month of this slow internet is torture. I wake up in sweats only to realize that the nightmare is for real. I run over to check my email and it takes 10 seconds to load. There is no escaping it. So, back to Comcast today. I should be up and running with the dark side of the force by tonight. I hope.
Last night I ate at The Hay Merchant, an awesome bar at 1100 Westheimer. Had some trouble finding it, as it is inadequately labeled from the outside. The beer was divine, the food was excellent, and I had a really really good time. Scott had their gumbo, and I had their crispy lamb croquettes, and was very impressed.
Looking forward to having quality internet again... and returning to the world from the dark ages.
Monday, August 06, 2012
I'm Not Going to Talk About the Olympics
Would 10 year old me have been surprised if I had told them that I would like the remake of Total Recall better than I liked the third Christopher Knowland's Dark Knight Rises? Probably not. That little boy would not have even known what you were talking about, because he was not allowed to watch those kinds of movies. I will say that despite my perspective as a child, I am today surprised to find that I feel that way.
More importantly, I'm a little surprised to find that I like the new Total Recall remake at all. You will notice, and this is important, that the last logo that flashes before the title screen is, "Original Film". I got a laugh out of that. The recipe was pretty simple, rework over a solid sci-fi action story, cast it with better actors, and revamp it with modern special effects. The only downside to that formula is applying it to a movie that didn't really need to be re-worked. The original Total Recall still holds up very well. Great writing, and really fun directing produced what is pretty much a classic. It's also from a time period where a large part of translating science fiction into movies was the "fortune telling" aspect of it. You'll find some of that in the new movie, though, which was a nice throwback.
There were some great foreground gags and misdirections. They were pretty obvious and it would spoil it to mention them, but the remake actually makes use of its being based on a previous movie to misdirect the viewer a few times in fun ways. It was clever how once or twice the important action was moved to the background and it kind of left me with a cool feeling even though I knew what was happening.
The action is pretty blah, and the characters are purely unoriginal, but that's sort of the point of the whole story. The over the top action styling works in favor of the gimmick of the plot. It's a great effect, and because of the slightly different slant the movie takes from the path of the original, it works great.
Definitely a good movie to watch for fans of the original, and fans of good thought provoking sci fi in general.
Monday, July 30, 2012
Once You Have Learned to Play Music
I found this great rock version of Bach's Minuet in G Major on youtube.
There is a peerless sense of wonder at exploring and instrument, even after years of working your fingers delicately across its notes. The endless expression that it is capable of ought to inspire anyone with absolute wonder. So much so that I cannot imagine anyone losing that sense of amazement even after a lifetime. It's the way I believe people ought to feel about language, and probably would if it didn't spill meaninglessly out of their mouths every single day without an appreciation of exactly what it is capable of.
Archimedes' lever was language, and music is only an entirely new list of words. No greater tool has ever been used on the earth than language, and all other accomplishments were only achieved through its use.
Every single note is important, and beautiful.
Friday, July 27, 2012
Some Things Need to be Censored
I'm typing this up while I have a very tiny dog sleeping on my lap. It's extremely cozy.
Last weekend I went up to Dallas to visit my grandparents, and while I was there I saw my aunt Karen, and my uncle Greg, his wife, and my sister Teruwah. It was a really good weekend, and it was all too short before heading back home. While we were stopped in a small town and I decided to try a small bbq restaurant that I'd never tried before, Dickey's. I really want to ultimately try all the bbq that I can't get in Houston on my road trips between Dallas and San Antonio. Just so happens, though, that when we got back and went for dinner at Outback Steakhouse, the old restaurant that's been closed nextdoor to them for a long while is being turned into a... Dickey's. I thought that was amusing.
So, I beat Torchlight last night, and I've been putting in the hours to really make mincemeat out of all of Dungeon Defenders with my friend Jason. Other than that, I've really been excitedly playing Gemini Rue, which is an incredibly excellent point and click adventure game that even has mid 90's grade graphics.
If you have not seen this last thing... it is a must.
And The Moon And The Stars And The World.
Friday, July 20, 2012
The Dark Knight Rises Review
The Dark Knight Rises is an easy movie to recommend. Christopher Nolan has created another must see for anyone who has watched Batman Begins and The Dark Knight, and so there just isn't really much to say that will help anyone decide whether they're going to see the movie or not. The cinematography is good, the characters are good, all the actors are good, the action is well paced and explosive, the toys are cool, the ideas are even good, and the movie as a whole is pretty good, even though after all of this is where it starts to fall apart a bit. This movie with a very difficult to shorten name is probably around as good as Batman Begins, maybe a little worse, maybe a little better depending on your tastes and which problems bug you more.
I really want to emphasize how much I like this movie early on, because it's where I come down finally and officially. It's a good movie, and I enjoyed it on a number of levels, and I really want that to stick when I say what I have to about this movie. The basic setup for this movie without giving away anything that isn't in the trailer or the first five minutes is that Batman has well and truly retired from crime fighting. His crime fighting actions seemed to be unnecessary after legislation was passed in the name of Harvey Dent, based on the lie that he died a sane and not criminally insane shining example of all the great qualities the city needs, legislation that allowed Gotham to lock away the entirety of its mob problem into Blackgate Prison. Selena Kyle(who is never once called cat woman, which was kinda cool) is running around the city as a bit of a wildcard, and Bane arrives with some dark motives.
The opening starts off with some great ideas. The entire peace of Gotham based on vigilantism and lies being a reckless and fragile peace, and there is a lot of promise there. Unfortunately, this and a lot of other great ideas that develop in the movie tend to fail to come to a really well executed fruition. Maybe about five of eight great ideas are solidly delivered. A lot of the problems are built into the execution, and I honestly don't know what happened, but some of the execution just felt lazy. The opening of the movie is just a one two punch of characters looking at each other and asking overly verbose questions that spell out the important events from previous movies. It's not like this sin has never been committed by a good movie before, and it certainly doesn't drag this movie down much. The reason I mention it is because it's just a good example of the way the movie tends to slip up when it does.
There are some passing ideas about class warfare and some picket sign statements about the excesses of the wealthy in there for motivation, but they're never really given the touch of importance that makes them significant to the movie. The pacing is off a bit, and in one or two places that I simply can't talk about it, they did some things that were supposed to be a nod to fans of the comics, but they even managed to make that feel heavy handed and wrong.
All that said, while it's a bit of a mess, it only feels that way in that the ideas that didn't work or come together well were so good that you can see how great this movie would have been if they had. It's like it was one off of being a cut above even The Dark Knight. None of the problems are glaring though, and the Dark Knight Rises is still very easy to recommend to anyone as an enjoyable movie overall.
I really want to emphasize how much I like this movie early on, because it's where I come down finally and officially. It's a good movie, and I enjoyed it on a number of levels, and I really want that to stick when I say what I have to about this movie. The basic setup for this movie without giving away anything that isn't in the trailer or the first five minutes is that Batman has well and truly retired from crime fighting. His crime fighting actions seemed to be unnecessary after legislation was passed in the name of Harvey Dent, based on the lie that he died a sane and not criminally insane shining example of all the great qualities the city needs, legislation that allowed Gotham to lock away the entirety of its mob problem into Blackgate Prison. Selena Kyle(who is never once called cat woman, which was kinda cool) is running around the city as a bit of a wildcard, and Bane arrives with some dark motives.
The opening starts off with some great ideas. The entire peace of Gotham based on vigilantism and lies being a reckless and fragile peace, and there is a lot of promise there. Unfortunately, this and a lot of other great ideas that develop in the movie tend to fail to come to a really well executed fruition. Maybe about five of eight great ideas are solidly delivered. A lot of the problems are built into the execution, and I honestly don't know what happened, but some of the execution just felt lazy. The opening of the movie is just a one two punch of characters looking at each other and asking overly verbose questions that spell out the important events from previous movies. It's not like this sin has never been committed by a good movie before, and it certainly doesn't drag this movie down much. The reason I mention it is because it's just a good example of the way the movie tends to slip up when it does.
There are some passing ideas about class warfare and some picket sign statements about the excesses of the wealthy in there for motivation, but they're never really given the touch of importance that makes them significant to the movie. The pacing is off a bit, and in one or two places that I simply can't talk about it, they did some things that were supposed to be a nod to fans of the comics, but they even managed to make that feel heavy handed and wrong.
All that said, while it's a bit of a mess, it only feels that way in that the ideas that didn't work or come together well were so good that you can see how great this movie would have been if they had. It's like it was one off of being a cut above even The Dark Knight. None of the problems are glaring though, and the Dark Knight Rises is still very easy to recommend to anyone as an enjoyable movie overall.
Thursday, July 12, 2012
I'm Like Beef Jerkey Coated in Chocolate
I didn't sleep on tuesday night. Partly because I didn't have to. I had wednesday off and I knew I could stay up as late as I wanted and sleep as late as I wanted. I didn't sleep at all last night, though. And I had work at 7 this morning. It's raining outside, and I'm surrounded by this constant cascade on the roof and door and walls and window. It's beautiful in so many ways. I don't think not having to work is why I didn't sleep on tuesday. I think it's the same reason I didn't sleep last night.
I guess I lost another friend. Mostly I was wondering if there was anything I could have done differently, or should have done differently. I started thinking about all the times I've lost people I was close to before. When you see one friendship go down in flames you start to think of all the ones that have. This wasn't the biggest one, in fact, it was relatively minor. But it got me thinking.
So I ended up laying in bed with my eyes closed and just trying to will myself to sleep, and to dream. Not just any dream, though. I wanted to dream of flying. It's some of the happiest dreaming I've ever had. I remember throwing myself at the ground and missing. It was exactly like Douglas Adams described it in The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy. You throw yourself to the ground and you just lazily lift up. You can't steer, just.. drift.. fast or slow or up or down. I wanted that.
You can't ever go home again. That's not always a negative truth. For me, once I start caring for someone I can't ever stop, I think, and that's a good feeling, because caring is passionate and beautiful. I move on, and I get distanced, but I don't stop caring. You can't ever just be strangers with someone ever again. You know who they are in their head and when you know that, you only need five minutes and it's like they were never gone. You can't ever undo that kind of friendship, even if something comes between you so big and so disruptive that they can't ever be around you ever again.
Anywho. Maybe I'm going to try and get some rest at work.. maybe do some sleeping to the sound of rain falling. Good night, all.
I guess I lost another friend. Mostly I was wondering if there was anything I could have done differently, or should have done differently. I started thinking about all the times I've lost people I was close to before. When you see one friendship go down in flames you start to think of all the ones that have. This wasn't the biggest one, in fact, it was relatively minor. But it got me thinking.
So I ended up laying in bed with my eyes closed and just trying to will myself to sleep, and to dream. Not just any dream, though. I wanted to dream of flying. It's some of the happiest dreaming I've ever had. I remember throwing myself at the ground and missing. It was exactly like Douglas Adams described it in The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy. You throw yourself to the ground and you just lazily lift up. You can't steer, just.. drift.. fast or slow or up or down. I wanted that.
You can't ever go home again. That's not always a negative truth. For me, once I start caring for someone I can't ever stop, I think, and that's a good feeling, because caring is passionate and beautiful. I move on, and I get distanced, but I don't stop caring. You can't ever just be strangers with someone ever again. You know who they are in their head and when you know that, you only need five minutes and it's like they were never gone. You can't ever undo that kind of friendship, even if something comes between you so big and so disruptive that they can't ever be around you ever again.
Anywho. Maybe I'm going to try and get some rest at work.. maybe do some sleeping to the sound of rain falling. Good night, all.
Tuesday, June 26, 2012
If We Had Forever, Would Never Be Enough
It is a little considered fact that the shadows are blackest where the light shines brightest. Logic then follows that there are darker ills in heaven than fill the deepest pits of hell.
And to think that while dying Cthulhu dreams. Though all the race of man be but a moment, and the men before, and those dread things that came even before that, the drowned god still slumbers. Can you fathom so many dreams, dreams of things before the earth itself was pressed together from shapeless mass drifting through heat and darkness? Do we dream, do you think? Perhaps all dreaming, waking and asleep, are the moments that our minds touch together with not just each other, but with the darkness that sleeps for all time. For we are never any closer to that darkness than when we sleep, or drift away, or let our attention wander away from the here and now, and close things share.
If this be the root, the heart, the start and finish of all dreams together, then the brief pieces we share one at a time across even a lifetime are but an incomplete thought. Were we to stave off death for a thousand years we may catch only a wisp, a breath, a whisper of an idea. Ideas are life and death and even something more, because ideas do not die. Empires have crumbled in the wake of the scratches made by a trembling old hand in its dying moments. Then what horrors will we wake to when we cease to dream?
We sanitize our witches with clean white rooms, and pure white coats, but they embody the same madness. Find what has never been done before, and do that next. Shine the light so bright that all the ills of the world are driven back into the tiniest holes. If they could, they would offer you eternal wakefulness in a pill, and a lifetime of mindfulness, and years innumerable at that. When dreams and death may die through sorcery or science. The means makes little difference to the ends of such things. If dreams are the burden of madness shared...
I felt like writing a little creative fiction. Had fun with several ideas that I've had independently sort of mingle all together at once. Hope everyone enjoys this little soliloquy.
And to think that while dying Cthulhu dreams. Though all the race of man be but a moment, and the men before, and those dread things that came even before that, the drowned god still slumbers. Can you fathom so many dreams, dreams of things before the earth itself was pressed together from shapeless mass drifting through heat and darkness? Do we dream, do you think? Perhaps all dreaming, waking and asleep, are the moments that our minds touch together with not just each other, but with the darkness that sleeps for all time. For we are never any closer to that darkness than when we sleep, or drift away, or let our attention wander away from the here and now, and close things share.
If this be the root, the heart, the start and finish of all dreams together, then the brief pieces we share one at a time across even a lifetime are but an incomplete thought. Were we to stave off death for a thousand years we may catch only a wisp, a breath, a whisper of an idea. Ideas are life and death and even something more, because ideas do not die. Empires have crumbled in the wake of the scratches made by a trembling old hand in its dying moments. Then what horrors will we wake to when we cease to dream?
We sanitize our witches with clean white rooms, and pure white coats, but they embody the same madness. Find what has never been done before, and do that next. Shine the light so bright that all the ills of the world are driven back into the tiniest holes. If they could, they would offer you eternal wakefulness in a pill, and a lifetime of mindfulness, and years innumerable at that. When dreams and death may die through sorcery or science. The means makes little difference to the ends of such things. If dreams are the burden of madness shared...
I felt like writing a little creative fiction. Had fun with several ideas that I've had independently sort of mingle all together at once. Hope everyone enjoys this little soliloquy.
Tuesday, June 12, 2012
The Source of Life
 | |
| David Scott 06/12/12 |
I had a rousing debate the other night over a delicious dinner as to the state of the world. It was posed to me by two therapists that the world was in a constant worsening state of turmoil and insanity and emotional distress, and in such a debate, there is no hard evidence one way or the other, but their anecdotal evidence of their personal workload was very compelling. Certainly, if you look around the globe there is no shortage of horror stories, this year. It's as though everyone has fallen into a bit of a dark place. Race and immigration riots in Israel, killers in Canada, violent assaults across the United States. The massacres in Syria. There are economic issues in Greece, and drug wars boiling under the surface everywhere you go. And certainly any sort of feeling soul, and loving human being might ask what sort of God would allow such a world to continue to bring about such endless pain and misery.
Would it be entirely unfair to suggest a monstrous one? Would it even be possible to find evidence to refute that claim? For the sake of simplicity, assume the Judeo-Christian God of the Bible, and then ask yourself if you might compare a God who describes himself as jealous and vengeful to an abusive parent.
Now, certainly an Atheist would use this ammunition as evidence against the existence of a deity. I've heard it argued more than once that the monstrous nature of our supposed creator is evidence of non existence. That argument doesn't make any sense to me, though. It's certainly a good argument for why you would not want to believe in something, though. God is a beast of nightmares, certainly, who has visited plagues in the night on entire peoples, and delivered countless into their violent ends, and often with no warning.
Now, I don't know if I've ever shared this before, but from what I have seen and experienced in my speck of existence, what would be generous to even call a dot in all of space an time, I have seen that monsters create. Good souls empty out their hearts trying to bandage the dying, but death is everywhere, and everything is falling apart. You're born falling apart, and so is everything else.
Our sun is dying.
It always has been. Someday it will be broken and scattered and it will tear apart whatever is left behind orbiting it. What we are even at this very moment is a compilation of the remains of stars whose light will never touch us. We are the center of a universe that is expanding so fast that as long as we are limited by what we see.. we will never, ever, ever know what is beyond our event horizon. It is expanding so fast, that from far enough out, light simply cannot travel fast enough to reach us here on our isolated little spot. That there is no telling what lies beyond that horizon. Or even what stars we see now that have passed beyond it. As they hit that point, they released light that will slowly reach us for infinity, the light right at the event horizon is infinite and red.
But I digress. While people with good hearts strive endlessly to patch up the ripping apart and dying world, new things are constantly being born in the remains of the old.
I argued that the world is continually improving. That things are better today than they ever have before. But I'm not going to recount my argument here. If you're interested, try to imagine what I argued. I'm interested in hearing posters thoughts about why I might think that the world today is an ever improving place.
Wednesday, June 06, 2012
Tuesday, June 05, 2012
How Easily Love and Hate Mingle
The Blood Orange - by David Scott
Tasting of perfect essence
flowering as the surface is pierced
spritzing into the air
with an aroma which haunts the room
and the fruit is blinding in its rich color
as it dulls the rest of the world by contrast.
I can already taste it on my lips
even before I watch the first errant drops fall
though powerless to contain them
as if I would
they do not escape my eyes
as if they could.
I will always taste this,
and I will never taste it again.
Tasting of perfect essence
flowering as the surface is pierced
spritzing into the air
with an aroma which haunts the room
and the fruit is blinding in its rich color
as it dulls the rest of the world by contrast.
I can already taste it on my lips
even before I watch the first errant drops fall
though powerless to contain them
as if I would
they do not escape my eyes
as if they could.
I will always taste this,
and I will never taste it again.
Thursday, May 31, 2012
Any Animal that Doesn't Need a Bath is Not of This Earth
I don't know how to feel about the fact that some of the places I shop have started thinking about my birthday even before I have. Adagio sent me a replacement filter and packed in with my order a happy birthday card and a free sample of Birthday Tea. It has sprinkles. I suppose I don't take this as a bad thing, it's not that I don't fully celebrate the amazing nature of yet another year of cherished and amazing experiences and wisdom. It's just that how I celebrate my birthday is just about a given, and what I care about most is spending time with people I consider to be family. One of my most relaxing retreats is to indulge in cooking a very nice meal. Yeah. Davidfest is just about an established tradition, and I'm looking forward to breaking out my grill in a little over a week.
So I found out about an interesting new issue that I guess makes absolutely complete sense, but at the same time kind of crept up out of nowhere. This is going to become a very serious issue if some kind of resolution isn't found. It's a little rougher than the IPv4 limits.
It has been a very big year. So many good changes, and I've grown close to so many good people. I've settled into my new house, Zac, one of my closest friends, has moved in with me. My mom started her new job, and now has a new car and fewer financial worries. My step mom retired from a job she found stressful and has started her private practice again. Lousianime has grown and even changed cities. Mike moved to Germany. Jake has moved out into his own apartment. Jackson and Marcia got married. Almost everyone I know has been promoted or otherwise grown in their chosen profession. Some days, I am simply at a genuine loss for how to feel about how much change can happen in what seems like an otherwise normal year. It's creeping in nature, one change at a time. Before my birthday I will be business partners with not just one, but two of my childhood friends. That's something that a lot of people dream about and talk about but never accomplish.
I learned how to play the song Blackbird. Almost no other song I've ever heard has played in my ears like the sweet notes of that beautiful tune. It touches every emotion in my spectrum, and I am so glad to play it, and I try to play it every single day, and it feels special every single time. I've grown as a guitarist all year long.
This year I'm also proud of how much I've grown as a chef, with how much I've learned. I've put in time and effort, and studied, and I believe that I am more capable than ever. I've made habanero jelly that is the color of sunset twice.
And, that's just off the top of my head.
In the next year I plan to:
* Draw
* Write for NaNoWriMo again
* Pass the CCNA
* Get together a brew setup at my own home
* Learn to play Stairway to Heaven
* Program a new game
* Get a new car
* Make love more passionately
* Find new things that I don't even know I want to do, yet
If you know me, and you remember something good about the last 12 months, or even any significant memory, please leave a comment. I'd like to reminisce...
My potatoes bring all the Irish to the yard,
and they're like, "That famine was hard."
Damn right, that famine was hard!
I could feed you. But you'll have to starve.
So I found out about an interesting new issue that I guess makes absolutely complete sense, but at the same time kind of crept up out of nowhere. This is going to become a very serious issue if some kind of resolution isn't found. It's a little rougher than the IPv4 limits.
It has been a very big year. So many good changes, and I've grown close to so many good people. I've settled into my new house, Zac, one of my closest friends, has moved in with me. My mom started her new job, and now has a new car and fewer financial worries. My step mom retired from a job she found stressful and has started her private practice again. Lousianime has grown and even changed cities. Mike moved to Germany. Jake has moved out into his own apartment. Jackson and Marcia got married. Almost everyone I know has been promoted or otherwise grown in their chosen profession. Some days, I am simply at a genuine loss for how to feel about how much change can happen in what seems like an otherwise normal year. It's creeping in nature, one change at a time. Before my birthday I will be business partners with not just one, but two of my childhood friends. That's something that a lot of people dream about and talk about but never accomplish.
I learned how to play the song Blackbird. Almost no other song I've ever heard has played in my ears like the sweet notes of that beautiful tune. It touches every emotion in my spectrum, and I am so glad to play it, and I try to play it every single day, and it feels special every single time. I've grown as a guitarist all year long.
This year I'm also proud of how much I've grown as a chef, with how much I've learned. I've put in time and effort, and studied, and I believe that I am more capable than ever. I've made habanero jelly that is the color of sunset twice.
And, that's just off the top of my head.
In the next year I plan to:
* Draw
* Write for NaNoWriMo again
* Pass the CCNA
* Get together a brew setup at my own home
* Learn to play Stairway to Heaven
* Program a new game
* Get a new car
* Make love more passionately
* Find new things that I don't even know I want to do, yet
If you know me, and you remember something good about the last 12 months, or even any significant memory, please leave a comment. I'd like to reminisce...
My potatoes bring all the Irish to the yard,
and they're like, "That famine was hard."
Damn right, that famine was hard!
I could feed you. But you'll have to starve.
Wednesday, May 30, 2012
We Can't Always Wax Poetic
Fragment by Amy Lowell
What is poetry? Is it a mosaic
Of coloured stones which curiously are wrought
Into a pattern? Rather glass that's taught
By patient labor any hue to take
And glowing with a sumptuous splendor, make
Beauty a thing of awe; where sunbeams caught,
Transmuted fall in sheafs of rainbows fraught
With storied meaning for religion's sake.
I think I constantly share other people's works because mine are for me. Maybe I don't feel like sharing of myself today outside of what I can find of myself in other people. Maybe that's all I am.
Tuesday, May 15, 2012
I Want to Grow Old and Be Childish With You
The name of this song is particularly meaningful to me. I am deeply, and magically enthralled with the idea of preserving the part of my soul that is childlike and pure. That little part of you that is so easy to allow to be crushed. That people allow themselves to stop enjoying things that are wonderful, or harden themselves so that they no longer feel fresh pains of sympathy. I think that it takes a great deal of strength to grow up and nurture that part of you such that you are able to make educated and difficult decisions, and even sacrifices, without giving up that part of yourself that feels everything intensely. Without giving up that part of yourself that afterward is able to play with legos, and be simple, and appreciate pillow forts in the living room.
I really wish to grow old and be children together with someone.
Sunday, May 13, 2012
Friday, May 11, 2012
Review: The Dictator
In the past I've always had mixed reactions to movies staring Sacha Baron Cohen. For every good memory from Borat, there was a part of the movie I sort of wanted to forget. It's pretty much the definition of cutting edge of comedy, in the sense that it is definitely offensive. In his most recent film, The Dictator, he is surprisingly subdued. The movie is funny, beginning to end, with fewer out right gross assaults on the eyes like in his previous movies. The movie really aims the majority of its jokes in two directions, racist views of other countries and oppressive dictatorships and misogynist cultures. If you're prepared for some brutal and cutting dialog, then this movie delivers.
The plot is pretty straight forward, and it never really transcends cheap comedy, though. While his last two films took the form of mockumentaries, this is a more traditionally directed film. It occasionally detours from its generally direct path through the story for a scene with a punchline. Probably one of the best parts about the movie is that it delivers a lot jokes in the background instead of just in the foreground or via dialog. There really isn't much more that you can say about the movie without giving away spoilers, though. And as it's a comedy, the movie has nothing outside of that. Any details detract from the jokes and will devalue the film. I recommend it. I'd even watch it again, I think.
The plot is pretty straight forward, and it never really transcends cheap comedy, though. While his last two films took the form of mockumentaries, this is a more traditionally directed film. It occasionally detours from its generally direct path through the story for a scene with a punchline. Probably one of the best parts about the movie is that it delivers a lot jokes in the background instead of just in the foreground or via dialog. There really isn't much more that you can say about the movie without giving away spoilers, though. And as it's a comedy, the movie has nothing outside of that. Any details detract from the jokes and will devalue the film. I recommend it. I'd even watch it again, I think.
Thursday, May 10, 2012
In Space, No One Can Hear You Clean
Gold On the Ceiling - The Black Keys
"The corrosive effect of the pipe reduces your tongue to a stub. Now you truly are tasteless." - Narrator, Space Quest IV
It appears that once again I am a backer.
When I was a young man, I used to pour over the Space Quest games endlessly with my best friend Jason Cole. I remember the time we went out of our way to make a saved game just before every possible death available in the game. The one liners for most of them had us laughing till it hurt. "As you fade permanently from the club of living organisms, you think to yourself: 'So that's what my spleen looks like!'"
I am tremendously excited to see the point and click adventure game franchise represented on Kickstarter with original content, from good developers. It really just makes me want to go back and replay the whole series over a couple of hours.
And then, there's good music:
Wednesday, May 09, 2012
I Think of You
Got free screener passes to see The Dictator tomorrow, which is a bit of a mixed blessing. I mean, sure it's a free movie, and it's an excuse to go adventuring down town, but... but I can't remember the last movie that really starred Sacha Baron Cohen that didn't at some point involve him flailing penis at the camera. They're generally funny movies outside of that moment, but I can't really say that any word other than "dread" applies to knowing that it is likely to happen at some point in the film and I am even sort of thinking about not going. I mean, it's a bit of the question of, "What would you let someone do to you under the pretext of that they are doing it for free?"
I mean, there is obviously some sort of demand for that sort of thing, and people pay for it, so there is an established value to having dick flopped around on a screen so large that you feel like you maybe ought to be able to shake hands with it. I mean, its projection is probably taller than I am.
Anywho, that aside, I offer this:
By the way.. Avengers was the best Marvel movie to date.
I mean, there is obviously some sort of demand for that sort of thing, and people pay for it, so there is an established value to having dick flopped around on a screen so large that you feel like you maybe ought to be able to shake hands with it. I mean, its projection is probably taller than I am.
Anywho, that aside, I offer this:
By the way.. Avengers was the best Marvel movie to date.
Friday, May 04, 2012
It Was A Terrible Accident
Got my tickets for tonight. Will be going to the 9:20 showing at the AMC 24. I'm pretty excited to see something like this exist.
I mean, it is a long way from the movie I'm most excited for this year. Heck, it's probably not even in the top 5. Am I more excited about seeing The Avengers than I am about the new episode of Game of Thrones on Sunday? I plead the fifth on that. They're both probably going to be good. Except that Ned Stark is dead.
It is a little sad that I missed my chance to see The Avengers for free on Monday, though. Got free passes for a screener to it in the mail, but I didn't get home from a trip till after it was already over. C'est la vi. It was worth it, I had a really good trip and enjoyed my weekend a lot.
So what movies am I excited about this year?
Because Ridley Scott.
Because Batman.
Because Simon Pegg.
With any luck, I'll be writing about how awesome The Avengers is, though, when I get home tonight.
P.S. Gnocchi. I like to melt goat cheese into the sauce for a complex tang.
I mean, it is a long way from the movie I'm most excited for this year. Heck, it's probably not even in the top 5. Am I more excited about seeing The Avengers than I am about the new episode of Game of Thrones on Sunday? I plead the fifth on that. They're both probably going to be good. Except that Ned Stark is dead.
It is a little sad that I missed my chance to see The Avengers for free on Monday, though. Got free passes for a screener to it in the mail, but I didn't get home from a trip till after it was already over. C'est la vi. It was worth it, I had a really good trip and enjoyed my weekend a lot.
So what movies am I excited about this year?
Because Ridley Scott.
Because Batman.
Because Simon Pegg.
With any luck, I'll be writing about how awesome The Avengers is, though, when I get home tonight.
P.S. Gnocchi. I like to melt goat cheese into the sauce for a complex tang.
Tuesday, May 01, 2012
Intimacy
Some pictures from my excellent weekend. It's occurred to me recently how purely intimate holding hands is. I hug my friends, I kiss my parents on the cheek, but as far as public affection goes, I don't think it gets much more intimate than the prolonged contact of holding hands. It's a gesture that is at once so simple and also complex. It spreads warmth and care and thoughtfulness. Even offhandedly it shows that you are thinking about someone, whether you are looking at them, or speaking to them, or not.
Made gnocchi this weekend, and hamburgers. Studied and went to a nursery. Had monday off and got free screener passes to The Avengers for monday. Watched some anime with a friend, and made some guitar picks. Shadowrun got funded. I installed curtains in my bedroom, and got a new picture to hang on my wall. We kegged a beer on friday, and enjoyed its bounty. It has been a really, really good weekend. I hope everyone else enjoyed it as much as me.
Made gnocchi this weekend, and hamburgers. Studied and went to a nursery. Had monday off and got free screener passes to The Avengers for monday. Watched some anime with a friend, and made some guitar picks. Shadowrun got funded. I installed curtains in my bedroom, and got a new picture to hang on my wall. We kegged a beer on friday, and enjoyed its bounty. It has been a really, really good weekend. I hope everyone else enjoyed it as much as me.
Friday, April 27, 2012
You Feel True and Beautiful Passion
"I believe that love that is true and real creates a respite from death. All cowardice comes from not loving, or not loving well, which is the same thing. And when the man who is brave and true looks death squarely in the face... it is because they love with sufficient passion to push death out of their minds. Until it returns, as it does, to all men. And then you must make really good love again."
I want to play a game where you have to make terrible decisions for the whole game. All bad decisions, all tough ones. Every single decision you make means losing one thing that's vitally important to you as a person for something else that's vitally important to you as a person. You don't just get to make the decision and play on, though. The gameplay comes in making you work to make sure that the decision comes to fruition. Then... at the very, very end.. after nothing but horrible decisions and pain and loss, you get to make one that lets everybody lives and everyone goes home hoppy.
"I think the metaphor broke my spleen."
I've had a very pleasant afternoon, and the evening promises to be even better overall. Beer and good company, and lots more study. Also did some watches some dishes, and washed some movies. I wonder if you can guess what I watched. There is a cookie for anyone who can list them.
"Lying is the most fun a girl can have without taking her clothes off. But it's better if you do."
I want to play a game where you have to make terrible decisions for the whole game. All bad decisions, all tough ones. Every single decision you make means losing one thing that's vitally important to you as a person for something else that's vitally important to you as a person. You don't just get to make the decision and play on, though. The gameplay comes in making you work to make sure that the decision comes to fruition. Then... at the very, very end.. after nothing but horrible decisions and pain and loss, you get to make one that lets everybody lives and everyone goes home hoppy.
"I think the metaphor broke my spleen."
I've had a very pleasant afternoon, and the evening promises to be even better overall. Beer and good company, and lots more study. Also did some watches some dishes, and washed some movies. I wonder if you can guess what I watched. There is a cookie for anyone who can list them.
"Lying is the most fun a girl can have without taking her clothes off. But it's better if you do."
Tuesday, April 24, 2012
I'm A Backer and...
I'm a backer, and if you like good RPGs, then you should be, too. There are four days left as of this writing. And what they've accomplished so far with their funding has already been incredible. There has already been enough funding to make it a primary goal for the project to be released on PC, Mac, Linux, iOS, and Android. With that wide of a distribution, a large gameworld, shared friend characters, and a simultaneous release of developer tools, Shadowrun Returns promises to be an explosive revisiting of a fantastic gameworld setting.
If I pass my CCNA exam this week, I'm going to up my subscription level to the 125$ level for those sweet dogtags. I think that those are an excellent way to release a game with bonus material. But every penny you put into backing this game goes to making it a bigger, better story, with more characters, more locations, and more to do, and with better music. They even just announced that the original score designer will be working on the track for the new game. I hope to see everyone who backs it in the forums later... and possibly.. on the street in a backer t-shirt.
And finally, I leave you with music. One of the best songs I've heard lately, and a good cover of a great song:
Part of me believing it was always something that I'd done
But I don't wanna live that way
Monday, April 23, 2012
Some birds aren't meant to be caged. Their feathers are just too bright.
"Get busy living, or get busy dying." - Andy Dufresne said those words during one of the more touching moments in "Shawshank Redemption 2: Shank Harder" when, because of inmate politics, he is forced to eliminate Red in Mexican prison. I shed a tear because it was so painful to watch, and beautiful at the same time. The cinematography from the very moment when he thrusts the shank in manages to capture in a real and perfectly visually symbolic way, that the shank is his penis.
I saw "John Carter" with my mom this Saturday, and it is pretty obvious why it is one of the biggest commercial failures ever. I mean, the movie wasn't that bad. The only things that were really wrong with it were the writing and the acting. You might, almost rightfully so, suggest that those are the only things about a movie, but.. you'd be wrong. First of all, the movie actually had an okay story, if the only thing you took away from a scene(that is to say, if you were able to look past the actors and the words coming out of their mouth) is the strictest view of events(such as, in this scene these characters met and did this) then the plot points are not bad. But the actors and the writers of the dialog just destroy it.
The cinematography is really beautiful, and manages to capture the emotions you're supposed to feel from every scene. It's actually kind of weird feeling something from a visual standpoint while the actors voice words that make you feel the complete opposite. And finally, from a special effects standpoint, they managed to create a pretty cool looking vision of Mars, and a cool 20's pulp sci fi world. But for real.. don't pay money to see that trash. It really could have been good, it was pretty close to it. My mom liked it,though. She claims to have just not to have seen the same bad acting or felt that the dialog were as cliched and cheap. Probably the worst written character in the movie is John Carter himself. *shrug*
I saw "John Carter" with my mom this Saturday, and it is pretty obvious why it is one of the biggest commercial failures ever. I mean, the movie wasn't that bad. The only things that were really wrong with it were the writing and the acting. You might, almost rightfully so, suggest that those are the only things about a movie, but.. you'd be wrong. First of all, the movie actually had an okay story, if the only thing you took away from a scene(that is to say, if you were able to look past the actors and the words coming out of their mouth) is the strictest view of events(such as, in this scene these characters met and did this) then the plot points are not bad. But the actors and the writers of the dialog just destroy it.
The cinematography is really beautiful, and manages to capture the emotions you're supposed to feel from every scene. It's actually kind of weird feeling something from a visual standpoint while the actors voice words that make you feel the complete opposite. And finally, from a special effects standpoint, they managed to create a pretty cool looking vision of Mars, and a cool 20's pulp sci fi world. But for real.. don't pay money to see that trash. It really could have been good, it was pretty close to it. My mom liked it,though. She claims to have just not to have seen the same bad acting or felt that the dialog were as cliched and cheap. Probably the worst written character in the movie is John Carter himself. *shrug*
Friday, April 20, 2012
Some Things are Just Simply Beautiful
It's just one of those things that lights your soul on fire. Soundwaves that make you shiver.
I Love it When People Say Cool Things
"Every creative act is open war against The Way It Is. What you are saying when you make something is that the universe is not sufficient, and what it really needs is more you. And it does, actually; it does. Go look outside. You can’t tell me that we are done making the world." - Jerry Holkins
Wednesday, April 04, 2012
Kings died, kingdoms fell.
"I don't regret the kingdoms - what sense in borders and nations and patriotism? But I miss the kings." - Maude
Really busy weekend. Painting, and having family over, and seeing Zac's mom. Got that back room all fixed up and re-painted with a little help. Lots of elbow grease and perspiration and it looks quite nice. Will have the new curtains up some time this week, soon as I get the right colors picked out. Going to put up curtains in my room too, to keep the sunlight out while I'm trying to sleep. The day star is my mortal enemy.
In other news, attempts to create an MMORPG equivalent to "Ladies Night", extra quotations around the "Ladies", are right around the corner. I, personally, predict rampant transgender roleplaying, far more so than usual. And, given the obvious intelligence and talent it takes to make a game of any caliber, I wonder how deliberate this is. Is it deliberate social engineering to assault gender identity at large? Possibly. Unlikely. Only time will tell, but if it's a crappy game, I'm not even sure anyone will give two shits if women get to play it for less money. I mean, if it's a bad game, paying less money to play it is like getting paid less money for an airplane ticket nowadays. Sure, it's cheaper for something that has a "value", but you're still paying for the privilege to have the lowest common denominator of security staff expose and observe and possibly fondle your junk in what is indistinguishable from a cattle line. So your guess is as good as mine who comes out the "winner" in that situation. Hint, it's still probably the person who paid less for that privilege.
My recommendation, just don't flirt with anyone while you play that game. No matter who you are and which way you swing. There's no winner when you don't know what you're grinding on or what is grinding against you.
More likely than not, this is just the misguided attempt to be more gender friendly in games, along with a lot of other justifications. You can't really work on something that long without thinking about it from multiple angles and justifications. But that's probably where it started. It works in bars, I suppose, but are bar settings really the direction that MMO's want to go? Even if you did, though, alcohol is a huge motivator there. And real sex. Or maybe it's a sort of genuine attempt at real gender outreach, but if it is, it's still really alienating to everyone involved, and in a community that is known for shirking the rules through fraud, gender neutrality and multi gender communities are not likely to be forthcoming, just lots and lots and lots of lonely guys pretending to be women for a discount. Trying to think of ways to hit on each other.
Posting from work today:
Light painting chronicle:
"Vice, Virtue. It's best not to be too moral. You cheat yourself out of
too much *life.* Aim above morality. If you apply that to life, then
you're bound to live life fully." - Maude
Really busy weekend. Painting, and having family over, and seeing Zac's mom. Got that back room all fixed up and re-painted with a little help. Lots of elbow grease and perspiration and it looks quite nice. Will have the new curtains up some time this week, soon as I get the right colors picked out. Going to put up curtains in my room too, to keep the sunlight out while I'm trying to sleep. The day star is my mortal enemy.
In other news, attempts to create an MMORPG equivalent to "Ladies Night", extra quotations around the "Ladies", are right around the corner. I, personally, predict rampant transgender roleplaying, far more so than usual. And, given the obvious intelligence and talent it takes to make a game of any caliber, I wonder how deliberate this is. Is it deliberate social engineering to assault gender identity at large? Possibly. Unlikely. Only time will tell, but if it's a crappy game, I'm not even sure anyone will give two shits if women get to play it for less money. I mean, if it's a bad game, paying less money to play it is like getting paid less money for an airplane ticket nowadays. Sure, it's cheaper for something that has a "value", but you're still paying for the privilege to have the lowest common denominator of security staff expose and observe and possibly fondle your junk in what is indistinguishable from a cattle line. So your guess is as good as mine who comes out the "winner" in that situation. Hint, it's still probably the person who paid less for that privilege.
My recommendation, just don't flirt with anyone while you play that game. No matter who you are and which way you swing. There's no winner when you don't know what you're grinding on or what is grinding against you.
More likely than not, this is just the misguided attempt to be more gender friendly in games, along with a lot of other justifications. You can't really work on something that long without thinking about it from multiple angles and justifications. But that's probably where it started. It works in bars, I suppose, but are bar settings really the direction that MMO's want to go? Even if you did, though, alcohol is a huge motivator there. And real sex. Or maybe it's a sort of genuine attempt at real gender outreach, but if it is, it's still really alienating to everyone involved, and in a community that is known for shirking the rules through fraud, gender neutrality and multi gender communities are not likely to be forthcoming, just lots and lots and lots of lonely guys pretending to be women for a discount. Trying to think of ways to hit on each other.
Posting from work today:
Light painting chronicle:
"Vice, Virtue. It's best not to be too moral. You cheat yourself out of
too much *life.* Aim above morality. If you apply that to life, then
you're bound to live life fully." - Maude
Tuesday, March 27, 2012
You'd See That We Should Never Be Afraid to Die
Be afraid that you will never have lived.
I really don't get the flirting that Ridley Scott is doing. He's SAID that this is NOT a prequel to Alien. I mean, you can't just unsay that after it has been said. But this movie did start out as a prequel. But does it fit into the continuity? If not, then you really should have scraped the Weyland-Yutani logos off all the props in the trailer. I think that the best possible explanation is that he imagines it as its own story, with no thematical relationship to Alien(which was, after all, a pretty straightforward film), or even direct xenomorph reference, though they occupy the same universe and story line continuity. That would make sense, in that way he would want people to not think of it as a prequel, he'd want them to see an entirely different idea.
Like how you might have a pornography convention in the same neighborhood as the open house of your kid's school, but you wouldn't want to be thinking of one while you're at the other, or vice versa. Or maybe you would. I'm not going to judge you. In a way it is probably very admirable that you are always thinking of your child's education, even while you indulge in your aberrant sexual tastes. Or, once again, vice versa.
Yesterday was pretty good. Any day you wake up like that is a good day, no matter what else happens.
This is a happy end
Cause you don't understand
Everything you have done
Why's everything so wrong
I really don't get the flirting that Ridley Scott is doing. He's SAID that this is NOT a prequel to Alien. I mean, you can't just unsay that after it has been said. But this movie did start out as a prequel. But does it fit into the continuity? If not, then you really should have scraped the Weyland-Yutani logos off all the props in the trailer. I think that the best possible explanation is that he imagines it as its own story, with no thematical relationship to Alien(which was, after all, a pretty straightforward film), or even direct xenomorph reference, though they occupy the same universe and story line continuity. That would make sense, in that way he would want people to not think of it as a prequel, he'd want them to see an entirely different idea.
Like how you might have a pornography convention in the same neighborhood as the open house of your kid's school, but you wouldn't want to be thinking of one while you're at the other, or vice versa. Or maybe you would. I'm not going to judge you. In a way it is probably very admirable that you are always thinking of your child's education, even while you indulge in your aberrant sexual tastes. Or, once again, vice versa.
Yesterday was pretty good. Any day you wake up like that is a good day, no matter what else happens.
This is a happy end
Cause you don't understand
Everything you have done
Why's everything so wrong
Wednesday, March 21, 2012
Just Pretend I Didn't Tear Your World Apart
Wow, a great day today. BBQ in Nac! Then, long drive home, long drive to work, but I finished up quick. Got home in time for a nap, and after my nap my new lawnmower got here. I put it together and I did the front lawn, mowed and edged and trimmed. I finished exactly as it got dark. THe new mower feels like I'm vacuuming my lawn, and it is just ridiculously surreal.
My apricot tree is budding, and it is just so beautiful and full of life. Normally my metaphor for God is the ocean, but I can see a spark of divinity in the genesis of new life. Flowers, new green leaves, and sunshine. If I stare too long it becomes blinding in all its beauty.
By bentsea at 2011-09-13
An old drawing I did, it sort of applies to how I feel today. After taking care of the front yard and sweeping the walks and the drive, Steve and Andrew showed up. We played Carcassonne. A great game by any measure. It was a lot of fun.
Anywho, so, great day today. Time for sleep.
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