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Below are the most recent 25 friends' journal entries.
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| Thursday, December 31st, 2009 |
artbroken
|
6:17p |
2009 was a pretty damn good year for me. Not 100% perfect, but nothing is except God and Pringles. I'd write more, but it's so fucking hot I can smell my skin melting in front of the computer. Maybe tomorrow, when I'll be badly hungover but not being baked alive. |
kateorman
|
11:17a |
Tips for Coping with Chronic Illness
Rummaging around in pursuit of a missing prescription, I found some printouts from this collection of articles: Chronic Illness CopingSome useful stuff there, especially about having as "fighting spirit" rather than the angry, scared attitude that resulted in my convincing myself I was doomed. |
| Wednesday, December 30th, 2009 |
gmskarka
|
4:17p |
Move Your Money
This is a brilliant idea, so I'm passing it along: A movement underway trying to convince Americans to hold accountable the mega-banks that got us into this economic mess, and yet are supposedly "too big to fail" (which conveniently lets them off the hook for playing roulette with the world economy), by moving our money from accounts in those banks, to small, locally-owned banks that had no part in the meltdown (or the ridiculous bailout payments). Watch the video: ...and then visit MoveYourMoney.info to find high-rated locally-owned banks near you. |
| Thursday, December 31st, 2009 |
d_fuses
|
3:18a |
This year's Stevies
Stevies for 2009 Here we go again with what’s fast becoming the least popular awards in the blogosphere. As always, it has nothing to do with when the product was produced, but when I encountered it. Best TV Show A few contenders this year. You’d probably suspect it’d go to Lie to Me: the science is fairly strong, the technical discourse fun, the writing decent and Tim Roth is glorious. It’s definitely the best new crime show around and is battling Burn Notice for my affections, beating out the charm of Castle (because almost all of that charm comes from Fillion and he cannot hold a show all on his own, no matter how often he smiles). Meanwhile Bones and SVU go from strength to strength to strength. Bones is totally the little engine that could, taking a fairly weak concept and making it rock the world with strong archetypes and fun gags. It’s effectively Buffy reskinned, which is why I like it. But all of them pale compared to The Big Bang Theory. Not just because Big Bang is consistently home-run funny, each and every week, but because it’s doing that in an age when the sitcom is all-but dead. Reality TV stomped sitcoms so far into the ground that Two and a Half Men looked like comedy genius. Then along comes Chuck Lorre and proves he’s still got it. It’s no Newsradio but it’s extremely reassuring and a welcome return for a maligned genre. Props to the geek boys for doing that most difficult of things: bringing the funny, into a dark world, every damn week. Best Movie Son of Rambow is the runner up. Sweet without being saccharine, simple without being simplistic, low scale yet boldly told, this is a movie everyone should think about seeing. If it had more music and less Rambo, it would be this years’ Full Monty: lonely English kids fight their battles and become friends through the power of dreams and creativity. Except, you know, not TWEE like that sounds. The winner though, is The International. I adore modern techno-thrillers and of late they’ve been kind of co-opted by too much angst (Bond, I’m looking at you), or too much conspiracy (Dan Brown, what have you wrought). The International is an old-school techno-thriller, more Le Carre and the Sandbaggers than anything has a right to be these days. It manages to be gritty yet slick, intense yet realistic, conspiratorial yet not overdone. It features probably the most exciting gun battle ever put on film and yet will probably be forgotten in favour of the more grand-guignol bulletpieces like Shoot ‘Em Up and the Cranks. Which blows goats and makes me yearn for the days when we had Gorky Park and The French Connection and Day of the Jackal and so on. It’s not just that it’s my favourite genre well told though: the execution is extremely polished. Owen is better than ever, Watts manages to keep up, Mueller-Stahl has basically become the new Karl Malden and needs to star in these things forever. More than anything though, it was a film for which I had the absolute highest expectations, being as it is completely in my wheelhouse – and it exceeded them all. And that takes some doing indeed. Best Board or Card Game Okay, no surprise: it’s Dominion. It really does live up to the hype. It plays all the roles, it appeals to almost all comers and almost any size of group, it’s quick to learn, fast to play and can be as hard or as easy as you want it to be. It’s a social game but also an involving one. And it’s just goddamn good old fashioned FUN like very little else. What is surprising is the runner up, and how close it came to snatching the title. Space Hulk is a game which costs more than I make in a week and is, at heart, little more than simple minis rules for two players. Sure it has a modular board and pretty plastic dudes and a cool setting but…no, but nothing. It actually takes a lot of work to make something this simple and this easy – and much more work to make it this beautiful. The rules are few, the set ups simple, the gameplay a breeze, yet the tactics are serious, the tension is palpable and the stories so evocative you can smell the fear. The setting helps but what really helps is the unbelievably high quality components. I mean, we live in an age where beauty and game pieces are synonymous; where every singe chit or tile is a work of art and a monument of design, and yet Space Hulk is beyond them all, a whole extra level higher in design and beauty and construction. Swear to God, you’ve never seen room pieces click together like this. You may never see it again. And the minis are awesome too. Best RPG As always, tough to judge for a man with no disposable income and not enough time to review review copies. I’ll decline from mentioning WFRP 3e to avoid bias. Mad props to Dragon*Age for not recreating D&D but rather recreating the unique experience of redbook D&D, and all that implies to creating new gamers – with all the usual Pramas skill and aplomb. Speaking of recreating and attracting new blood: I’m still trying to wheedle a review copy but it looks like Dr Who will be the best licensed game since Buffy (aka the best licensed game since Ghostbusters). Other notables: Rogue Trader was prettier than Dark Heresy, Eclipse Phase brought back detailed percentile systems with a glorious vengeance, Geist had one of the funnest magic systems I’ve seen in ages and Jennifer is Missing broke several brains, including mine. But nothing quite re-wrote the books as much as Supercrew did, and it did it by rewriting the way books are written. 99% of game designers all-but ignore the art of RPG presentation (or just assume that White Wolf does it right, which is pretty galling when you look at the abomination that is Awakening) but if we’ve learned anything from Space Hulk, it’s that design is about far, far more than mechanics. Runner up in the damn-that’s-just-ridiculously-easy-to-digest stakes is Song of Ice and Fire, because Hal Mangold continues to be just better at layout than everybody else in the industry. Other Things: Arkham Asylum takes best Computer Game for letting you feel like you’re Batman with just a bit of button-mashing. Best comic remains Paul Grist’s exquisitely perfect Kane, the comic that Sin City wishes it would grow up to be like. Best gift to comedy is the Twilight Saga because having your spine broken by your terrible (but sparkly) vampire foetus never stops being funny. Best animal is the Sea Otter for continuing to crack oysters on their tummies. Sadly Missed Montage goes to Dan O’Bannon, the man behind the alien behind John Hurt’s stomach wall. Awesome of the Year An easy win for the Large Hadron Collider, built last year but turned on this, and making science huge and sexy and awesome and terrifying in an age where all people think of science as doing is dissing religion and making phones smaller. Let the other ages have their Difference Engines and moon rockets, we have our own edifice now. May it produce something cool by next year. |
| Wednesday, December 30th, 2009 |
kateorman
|
6:39p |
Thunderstruck
People with Crohn's disease do not have reduced life expectancy. I know what the hell is wrong with me now, so, yesterday, I bought a book about it. In the past when I've read about IBD it hasn't been at all helpful, just terrifying. Now I can see what applies to me and what doesn't, what's going on in there and what isn't. When I was 18 I thought I was going to die and I've been waiting for the other shoe to drop ever since. I have told myself for most of my life that I'm never going to reach old age. But the thing is: People with Crohn's disease do not have reduced life expectancy. On average. Thanks to modern medical treatments. The illness does predispose you to cancer, but - I have to check with the specialist about this - I think mine is actually in the wrong part of the innertube to have that effect. Of course, I also have diabetes and depression, either of which could total me. Staying alive and whole is still going to take plenty of work. But: People with Crohn's disease do not have reduced life expectancy. *steps outside and is run over by a bus* |
artbroken
|
7:06a |
Quick note for Melbourne public transport users: If you want to get a myki card - and let's face it, you're gonna have to at some point, like it or not - you should register for one at the myki website by January 17 so that you get it for free, rather than spend ten bucks for one and then have to add credit to it. I got one yesterday. I'm not about to use it any time soon, not until the system actually works - especially since I mostly catch buses, and those have proved too complicated for the system because they, I dunno, move around so much - but at least this way it's free and I can leave it in a drawer until I'm forced to use it once metcards are phased out. |
| Tuesday, December 29th, 2009 |
wickedthought
|
10:24a |
He does not drink!
 A photo taken when Jessie, Chris and I were last together. Now, it's not true. These days, I do have an occasional drink. On my birthday, on Paddy's Day. But that night, I was not drinking. And so, Chris and Jessie started the battle cry... He is Wick! He does not drink! So we drink for him! Ah, what a weekend. |
artbroken
|
10:19p |
Ursula K Le Guin has accused the Authors Guild of selling authors "down the river" in the Google settlement and has resigned from the US writers' body in protest after almost 40 years' membership. In a strongly-worded letter of resignation the award-winning science fiction and fantasy author said the Guild's decision to support Google in its plans to digitise millions of books meant she could no longer countenance being a member. "You decided to deal with the devil, as it were, and have presented your arguments for doing so. I wish I could accept them. I can't," Le Guin wrote. "There are principles involved, above all the whole concept of copyright; and these you have seen fit to abandon to a corporation, on their terms, without a struggle." What does this mean in terms of the broader discussion on copyright and online text access? Buggered if I know. But props to Le Guin for sticking to her principles. |
kateorman
|
8:17a |
woo
Discovered the term "woo" at a particularly smug militant atheist blog this morning. Can't quite work out if it refers to falsifiable superstition and/or divisive OTWism, or to all forms of spirituality. These things are always confusing when you're a naturalist freethinker up to your elbows in gods. Require advice. (Also need advice on an alternative term for "militant atheists" so as not to piss off majority of atheists who are not ignorant evangelising twerps. In the meantime here's something we can both enjoy: Fred Nile nosedives after distributing Islamophobic "survey". OWAG.) ETA: By a circuitous route, however, that annoying blog did lead me to Dr. Scudder's Tales for Little Readers About the Heathen. |
| Monday, December 28th, 2009 |
princeofcairo
|
4:13a |
|
artbroken
|
8:26p |
I've seen reviews of Sherlock Holmes that criticise it as being too much of an action film, rather than the intellectual puzzle-solving of the original Conan Doyle stories. But there are two things wrong with this point of view: 1 - Holmes was a very physical character in the original stories - strong, skilled in martial arts, a master of disguise and subterfuge. He was never afraid to get his hands dirty, and many stories end with a sudden fistfight or Watson plugging a bad guy with his service revolver. A movie that reconciles the two aspects of the character, and recognizes its pulp adventure aspects, is more true to the source material than not. 2 - Screw those critics, because the movie is goddamn awesome. I saw this two hours ago and I'm still hyperactive. Guy Ritchie hasn't made a masterpiece of subtle plotting or anything, but he's made a strong action-adventure film with a great cast and pace to it. It's a modern vision of Holmes as an erratic, slightly Aspergersy genius who needs constant stimulus to stay engaged by life, and Robert Downey Jr is perfect for the role. Jude Law also makes a pretty good fist of Watson, again bringing out the physical aspects of the character, who - let us remember - is an ex-soldier who totes around a gun and swordcane at all times while helping a semi-sane polymath investigate case after fucked-up case. Rather than rework an existing story, or bore us with telling us things about the characters that we all already know, the movie kickstarts a plot around occult conspiracies and serial killings, with a bad guy who (in an inspired bit of casting) actually looks a lot like Basil Rathbone, whose hawk-nosed, elegant portrayal of Holmes has long been the assumed standard. Inverting that look for the villain, and then to give us a Holmes that is a scruffy, hyperactive rockstar... lovely stuff. It's not deep, but it's cleverer than you might think, it keeps finding new and interesting ways to show off Holmes' physical and mental prowess, and it's a hell of a lot of fun. And it's got me fired up to both reread Doyle's novels and stories (which I haven't done for about 15 years) and to watch some of Guy Ritchie's post-Madonna movies. Oh, I know they'll suck, but I'm just gonna recast them with Downey in my head. That makes everything more fun. |
kateorman
|
7:31p |
My blood glucose readings are coming down, but they're still too high, and my vision is still blurred. It's not all bad news, though - just finished my first workout in a couple of weeks, and not only has it ripped my blood sugar down from 13 to 7, I've somehow managed to lose a kilo and a half as well. Over Christmas! I must be doing something right. Tell you what, though, those big numbers on the BGM put the fear of the god into you. Right now I'm like that king in the story where he finally loses weight because his latest doctor tells him he's going to die in a month and he's too scared to eat! |
kateorman
|
4:52p |
|
| Sunday, December 27th, 2009 |
kateorman
|
11:13a |
"Darwin wept!"
Xmas with the family was brilliant, but stress and a sleepless night in horrid heat discombobulated me completely! It wasn't until we were packing yesterday morning to leave my brother and sister-in-law's place that I found my weekly pill container and realised I hadn't taken my morning meds for two days straight, including one of my diabetes meds - which is why my vision was blurred enough to answer the Buzz question "Which rock star appeared on the cover of Sergeant Pepper?" with "George Clinton". D'OH D: Back on the tablets now, of course, and just in time to avoid Zoloft withdrawal. (And testing blood glucose religiously.) |
| Saturday, December 26th, 2009 |
freeport_pirate
|
1:44p |
My Year in Books
As near as I can figure, the books below are what I read in 2009. This list does not include graphic novels, game books, Osprey titles, or magazines. Looking it over, you'd never guess I'm a raging leftist. I guess I was in a bellicose mood in 2009. 11th Month, 11th Day, 11th Hour: Armistice Day 1918, World War I and Its Violent Climax by Joseph E. Persico 1453 and Empires of the Sea by Roger Crowley Blackbeard: America's Most Notorious Pirate by Angus Konstam Camouflage by Joe Haldeman The Civil War: A Narrative, Volume 1 by Shelby Foote The Clash by the Clash The Crimean War by Clive Ponting A Distant Mirror by Barbara W. Tuchman Dragon Age: The Stolen Throne by David Gaider The Family Trade, The Hidden Family, The Clan Corporate, The Merchant's War, and The Revolution Business by Charles Stross Fire and Fury: The Allied Bombing of Germany 1942-1945 The Food of a Younger Land by Mark Kurlansky Forever Peace by Joe Haldeman Gods and Heroes: Myths and Epics of Ancient Greece by Gustav Schwab Greene, Revolutionary General by Steven E. Siry Halting State by Charles Stross Lives of Hitler's Jewish Soldiers by Bryan Mark Rigg Mechanicum by Graham McNeill The Napoleonic Wars by Gunther Rothenberg Old Man's War, The Ghost Brigades, The Last Colony, and Zoe's Tale by John Scalzi Passage at Arms by Glen Cook Paths of Glory, The French Army 1914-1918 by Anthony Clayton A Princess of Mars by Edgar Rice Burroughs Russian Sideshow: America's Undeclared War 1918-1920 by Robert L. Willett A Separate War & Other Stories by Joe Haldeman Soldier of the Mist and Soldier of Arete by Gene Wolfe Toy Wars: The Epic Struggle Between G.I. Joe, Barbie, and the Companies That Make Them by G. Wayne Miller Current Music: The Zeros, "Yo No Quiero" |
artbroken
|
11:32p |
WHAM BAM ROCK BAND GET DOWN OH FUCK BROKE A DRUMSTICK DRINKIN' BOURBON HAPPY BIRTHDAY JESUS |
kateorman
|
9:48p |
|
| Friday, December 25th, 2009 |
wickedthought
|
8:19p |
A Christmas Miracle
Not a magic star. Not a virgin birth. Not a visit from three wise men. No, sir. Something else. Nothing magical. Just science. In fact... London, Dec 25 (PTI) In yet another medical achievement, British scientists have restored eyesight of a partially blind person using pioneering stem cell treatment.God bless us, every one. |
gmskarka
|
5:21p |
WHITE MFing XMAS
Um, yeah. Lawrence got "between 4 and 10 inches" -- nobody's quite sure, because 40 mph winds blew everything around, leading to areas like on our lawn where you can see patches of grass sticking up through the snow, sitting next to 4-foot-high snow drifts. It's still snowing, and blowing. Expecting another 2 inches tonight, maybe another inch tomorrow before we're done. Everybody here is snug and safe -- we're going to eat our WHO FEAST within an hour or so -- waiting for side dishes to finish -- Turkey(s) (not Roast Beast) are done. (We have 2 12-pounders, since the store was out of larger birds, and we have 5 hungry people here, a couple of which are teenagers.) Probably watch Doctor Who - The End of Time, Pt. 1 later this evening (Yes, I already have it -- this is me we're talking about). Laura's family postponed Christmas gathering due to the roads -- although I'm not sure we're going to be able to dig out and go tomorrow, either (no plowing yet around us -- although Ian did a stalwart job of semi-clearing the driveway). Anyway -- Loot summary over the next couple of days . I've got feasting to do. (Both turkey this evening, and footy tomorrow, during the Boxing Day matches!) Gawrblezzus, evrywun. |
memento_mori
|
7:59a |
First Kill
Originally published at Memento Mori Theatricks. Please leave any comments there. The two kingdoms are at peace, but only because they share a king.
The king is chosen through a ritual called the First Kill.
To both kingdoms are born princes. Both princes are raised as nobles and are given the same lessons, the same training.
They are treated as equals, as brothers. They have no other siblings, no friends as close as each other.
The rite of the First Kill is to determine which of the two princess will inherit the throne. This is done through a duel with swords.
The winner of the fight is pre-determined. Whichever kingdom ruled in the last generation must lose the duel.
One prince is destined to be the victor. The other is destined to be a victim.
There is no shame in being the First Kill, just as there is no glory in murdering that young man. Power always comes with a price.
Time passes. The royal families gather to watch the rite unfold yet again.
The two boys are too young for this, but they must fight this duel to keep the peace.
The boys bow to one another, then draw their swords. Already, mourners wail for their lost prince.
They put on a perfect display of martial prowess. Cuts, thrusts, parries. All delivered with masterful precision and grace. Then, a bell chimes: Time for the ritual to end.
The prince looks at his opponent. He knows what he must do. The First Kill.
But these princes are brothers first. As the fatal blow is to be delivered, the prince stays his hand. He will not continue this tradition. They will both rule, as brothers.
He lowers his sword and extends his hand. The crowd gasps, the mourners are silent. The chime sounds again but the prince pays it no mind.
His brother grasps the hand of the prince and smiles, but his eyes fill with tears.
The bells chime. One prince is destined to be the victor. The other is destined to be a victim.
Power always comes with a price. |
memento_mori
|
5:11a |
Loom
Originally published at Memento Mori Theatricks. Please leave any comments there. Chiodo wants to see me, so I feel obliged to go. Not because I owe him or his MRCZ anything, but because it’s good to keep up relationships. His MRCZ has premium flow and lots of pull with the gene tinkers and the wetmen. The Blobbies ooze with flow. They’re a clan of deal brokers and fixers, perfectly secure within the bubble they called home. The bodyguard ushers me in and fixes me with a blank stare of polished chromium. His body is covered in a sleek black sealsuit, a personal gift from my MRCZ to the Blobbies. A show of friendship and good faith.
Read the rest of this entry » |
artbroken
|
11:52a |
I've been thinking about Christmas, and I think what I want most is for Santa to bring the poor folks at Wizards of the Coast a new preposition. You gotta feel sorry for the writers, because apparently all they have to play with is 'of', as evidenced by the fact that every second product they put out is the Blah Blah of Blah Blah. Check their catalog - 8 out of 14 adventures and 79 out of 218 novels are 'of'-based, and when you throw in Dungeon magazine scenarios it just gets crazy and sad. (I'd count them to make my point, but I can't be arsed.)
Sure, I get that they got given their 'of' years ago by the Dragonlance people, they've used it ever since, and it'd be embarrassing at the Christmas party if Weis and Hickman showed up and found no-one playing with their Dragons of Mid-afternoon Tumultuousness of Breath Weapon Damage Type. We have to think of others at this time of year.
But imagine what those kids could do with a new preposition. An 'in', an 'for', a 'with' or even - call me crazy - an 'on'. Madness? This is Sparta Christmas! Surely this is the one day of the year where professional game designers should be let free from their chains and given the chance to use a additional part of speech.
That's what I wish for. Plus, I suppose, good will on Earth, social justice, environmental protection and all that hippie leftie stuff. But mostly a new prepositions for my gaming peeps. |
| Thursday, December 24th, 2009 |
gmskarka
|
9:38a |
The Traditional Christmas Post
I've been doing this since I started blogging, and this year is no exception. A quote which sums up my feelings regarding the holiday, even as a non-Christian: "There are many things from which I might have derived good, by which I have not profited, I dare say,'' returned the nephew: "Christmas among the rest. But I am sure I have always thought of Christmas time, when it has come round -- apart from the veneration due to its sacred name and origin, if anything belonging to it can be apart from that -- as a good time: a kind, forgiving, charitable, pleasant time: the only time I know of, in the long calendar of the year, when men and women seem by one consent to open their shut-up hearts freely, and to think of people below them as if they really were fellow-passengers to the grave, and not another race of creatures bound on other journeys. And therefore, uncle, though it has never put a scrap of gold or silver in my pocket, I believe that it has done me good, and will do me good; and I say, God bless it!'' -- Charles Dickens, A Christmas CarolIn short, it's a holiday that often makes people treat one another just a bit BETTER. Even if only for a short time. There's surely something wonderous in that. Merry Christmas, all. |
artbroken
|
7:35p |
Ah, Christmas, and my mandated week-and-a-half holiday at full pay. ...why am I still (moderately) sober? |
| Wednesday, December 23rd, 2009 |
wickedthought
|
6:07p |
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