Marc's Remarks

2004-08-13T14:21:00.000-04:00

Do Provinces Dream of Electric Cars?

In this day of rising oil prices, more and more people are startingto take another look at the Electric Car. I believe that the federalgovernment and the provincial governments of Quebec and Newfoundland/Labrador should look at making the Electric Car one ofthe basic building blocks of the Canadian economy as we move into the twenty-first century. It would win points with everyone ecologically, economically, politically and internationally.

The ecological benefits are pretty straightforward: cars withelectric engines do not emit the same pollutants that oil-basedvehicles release. Furthermore, a growing number of analysts nowpredict that global oil production will peak within the coming decade and then start to decline, leading to higher energy prices with major economic consequences. Eventually, the oil will run out. Electricity, on the other hand is a renewable resource that is extremely abundant in Eastern Canada.

Eastern Canada has spent the past few decades trying to catch up economically. Things have begun looking up in this region, but if these regions were to take the lead in establishing a manufacturingpresence for electric vehicles, it would push the provincial economies into high gear. Working class families would have a substantial increase in manufacturing jobs made available to them, and the electric engine-based vehicles would be a highly exportable product to other regions of the world anxious for alternative automotive transportation. Furthermore, the increase in electric vehicles would increase demand for electricity, a resource thatCanada is a leader in.

The Federal and Provincial leadership should also consider the clout that would come with leading the pack in this technology. This is an opportunity that is waiting for a forward-looking industrialized nation to capitalize on, and there’s reason to believe that the Electric Car is the vehicle which can drive Eastern Canada into the executive parking lot of the international community. Quebec and Labrador should seize this opportunity before Detroit does (though that won't happen until a less oil-company friendly president is elected) because it’s a sure thing that the year that one of the G8 nationsmakes the transition to electricity, the others will follow in droves. I think many Canadians would swell with pride if their country were the nation to push the change globally.

Drivers keep their cars for an average of three to ten years- within the decade, most of the gas guzzling vehicles on the road today willbe replaced with a newer model. By subsidizing electric cars today early in the game, the government would give incentive to Canadians to start purchasing new electric vehicles and radically change society for the better in a decade. The government has used public funds to run alcohol and lottery businesses, so it could even explore manufcturing electric cars as another government-run business that could eventually become profitable and start offsetting other expenses suchas Medicare and Old Age security. Nations keep their edge by embracing new technologies, not clinging to outdated ones. This is doable by Canada- our population is small enough to be a good beta-test for the world, and we have the renewable resources to make it succeed. If Canada becomes the first country to go electric, other nations will turn to it for leadership as their environmental problems worsen; and because its the way we Canadians are, I believe that we will gladly give them a ride to reach their goal.

2004-04-15T00:21:00.000-04:00

All right: it's been a year and change or so since my last post. It looks like my comments site no longer records anything when a comment is made (I'll be doing something about that soon), so please bear with me until I get that function fixed.

So, what have I been up to in the last year? Lots. I just bought a condo in lovely St. Henri, which I'll be moving into in July. I'm looking forward to that. It's very strange being a property owe-ner. I'm simultaneously excited and scared to the point of excrementlessness. But it will be nice not having to move; finally, a long term commitment...

Speaking of long term commitments, I'm no longer in one. For those of you who don't know, Annika and I broke up back in October. Fortunately, we're still friends (we agreed that we would stay friends no matter what even if things went sour, and I'm glad that so far things have been good in that area).

For those of you who know Annika, you'll know that whoever her replacement might be will have some very big shoes to fill, and you should not be surprised to discover that I have yet to find someone to do that. I tried hopping back on Lavalife for a while, and discovered that while dating is nice (and being hit on is a huge boost to the ego), it's my experience that the people on Lavalife as a general rule are more concerned with finding a relationship (as in any relationship) than in finding the right person to be in the relationship with. I first logged back on with the intention of just burning off my remaining credits on a series of meaningless message exchanges, but I actually ended up on a few dates, and found that I had become extremely selective. I also found myself after going on a few "what the hell" dates, and after that, and for the first time being in the unenviable position of delivering rejectiojn speeches to women who didn't do it for me. It was awkward, since the majority of my dating experiences have entailed the pursuit of unrequited attraction, with brief interuptions in that sequence when the attraction was mutual. Being the rejector instead of the rejectee sucks- I find that it's easier to get rejected than to shoot someone down who thinks so highly of you by telling them that the feeling isn't mutual. So, believe it or not, I find myself (saying without ego) that since I suck at rejecting women, I decided to leave Lava (though I admit, I do log on again occasionally to lurk and check out the new pics on the off chance that a local supermodel has signed up in the past week or two- I blame my biology and suppresed voyeuristic tendencies for that).

Work is simultaneously fantastic and cruddy. I've been promoted through attrition, sort of. Our head office in Edison is transferring a lot of the equipment to Montreal and a lot of the higher paid US staff is being "right-sized". So Montreal is growing while all around us, offices are shrinking. My responsibilities are increasing considerably as a result, as I will be the secior tech on site. I told my supervisor that I need a WAN tech who is at least equal to me in skill to back me up, and my boss agreed. So I recommened Glenn, who was brought in for an intervierw earlier this week. It seems to have gone well, and I'm hoping that once again Glenn will be my wingman.

My cousin from Australia came down this week with her husband. We had a great week, taking her to Canadiens games, checking out the tourist spots of Montreal, etc... It was the first time I ever met her, but I hope it won't be the last. I have far more incentive to go to Australia now on holiday- it really sucks that the distance is so far, but the world is getting smaller every day. With email and the Internet, I'm sure that staying in touch will be doable.

Another nice thing about hanging with my cousin is the fact that I hung with my brother and sister so much. I always felt that I don't hang out with Charles and Anne enough (and Richard for that matter), and this week of co-hosting my cousin showed me that when we do hang, we have a great time. I hope that this tendency continues.

Well, this is a long update- I hope I start getting back into the habit of blogging- as more of my friends start leaving town and I start getting in touch with more of my family from overseas, that I start using the blog more productively than I did before. Of course, I'll still have to toss in my usual Bush-bashing (some things can't change). He still sucks, of course- possibly even more than the God-Damn Bruins who suck like hookers moonlighting as vaccuum cleaners. This guy has got to be voted down in November.

Until next post...

2004-04-14T23:37:00.000-04:00

Hmmm. Perhaps it's time for a triumphant return...

2003-07-09T20:04:00.000-04:00

Police Squad in Iraq

Naked Gun style, that is!

and while you're at it, if you're feeling lucky, try typing in "Weapons of Mass Destruction" into Google.

2003-07-09T15:16:00.000-04:00

So, just what is the Matrix?

Here is The Architect's Speech, for those of you who may have missed it (or been confused by the One who is not the One, but in fact Another One... There are some interesting theories as to just WTF is going on as well.

2003-07-02T10:08:00.000-04:00

Vacation in Progress- sit back and install

For once, the lack of entries in this blog is not due to inattentiveness, but because of vacationing! I've been fortunate enough to spend two weekends at my parents' cottage over the past few days. I've also lucked out weatherwise *gets splinters in knuckles as he knocks on his head- to touch wood* in that I haven't had a single crappy day (well, it rained yesterday, but it was while I was in a car on the highway, returning to town, and didn't ruin any of my plans, so I don't count that).

The cottage was fantastic. Annika finally got to see the place and fell in love with it- as I knew she would. We spent a few afternoons out in the pedalboat, where I finished reading Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep (a book I've been meaning to do for ages, and which one of my bookclubs had decided to checkout after a small amount of begging on my part- I'll spare you my thoughts on that book since some of the bookclub readers read this regularly, and I don't want to spoil the discussion prematurely by giving away my thoughts on the book). Annika took some watercolors out with her and painted some nature scenes. She is really quite talented, and I'm glad that she's rented a studio along with Jeff, Ron, and Dez.

We spent St Jean Baptiste painting said studio- there were eight of us, and it got done in record time. If this group collaborates on projects as well as they did on the initial paint job of the studio itself, then they should be wildly successful in no time.

I also managed to catch a concert that Arin's orchestra (that is, the one she belongs to, as opposed to the one she owns...) gave yesterday on Canada Day, before watching some fireworks out over Lac St Louis. I love listening to The Lakeshore Chamber Orchestra's stuff. Their new conductor has given two concerts now, and he's doing a great job. I'm not sure if the conductor is the one who makes the selection of music (I'm pretty sure he is), but I find that his choices are more well-known- to me at least... The previous conductor tended to pick obscure (though still very interesting) pieces that were a treat to listen to, while the newer selections since the change of conductor tend to be a lot of pieces to which I know the tune, but might not have known the name of the piece (shame on me. I guess these are works that are so widespread and well known that they have worked their way into other media as background music- ya know, pieces by Mozart, Beethoven, Haydn, etc... Composers who I never too the time to sit down and associate works with titles). The orchestra, as always, was a joy to listen to (and the cellos were brilliant!). I plan on attending every concert for the next little while.

I'm starting to go through the novel Fight Club, which I also chose for my other book club (the first book club is sci-fi and fantasy oriented, while the other bookclub is wider in its selection, tohugh I suspect there won't be too much sci-fi and fantasy because many of the members of the first book club are also members of the second, and are likely to push for books in the non-SF/fantasy categort to get the best of both worlds). It seems like I made a good choice in making this my selection- I think a lot of people will want to participate, and I know that a few non-members have asked to guest-star just to hear their thoughts on it. If I ever take a film course (or another literature course), I hope Fight Club is on the list of books/movies to discuss.

I saw Whale Rider last week, and so should you! It's a fantastic story about a twelve year old Maori girl who is trying to claim her birthright as chief of her tribe. It features an all Maori cast and is inspiring. I plan on seeing it again tonight.

Still haven't seen the Hulk, though I'll try and squeeze it in this week, too with Scott and Jeff (hopefully on Friday evening, before I return to the cottage on Saturday). I may try and squeeze in 2Fast2Furious, despite the fact that I know it will be shit. I liked the first one, and I suspect it'll do for a summer "turn-off-your-brain" movie, though it looks like its in the slowly being phased out phase, so I may not be able to find a time that suits me.

Last but certainly not least, on the gaming front, the crew of the Heart's Desire has set foot on Tyrolian soil and we look forward to the wholesale slaughter of our enemies over the next three weeks, when Taras finishes the Legends of the Jade Princess game that has been running for the last three years (seven if you count the Flashblade brothers and Silent Pete's first appearance in the original LoTJP 7 years ago). Also, I've received an email notification that Remo is 13th level. Magic Resistance, and a +2 boot to the head! Woohoo! Go Remo!

2003-06-26T11:55:00.000-04:00

I think I'll try selling Fridges to Eskimos next...

One of the things I likie best about gaming is the memories they conjure up occasionally. I laughed my posterior off when I saw this picture that my friend Rich drew . It was a WWII commando game. We had to stop a Luftwaffe plane from bombing a French city with chemical weapons. As it so happens, Rich and I were playing the only two characters who could fly a plane, so after the Nazi plane took off, we jumped into another bomber and took off after them. As we closed in on them, it occurs to me that I can't shoot down this plane full of nerve gas, since the nerve gas will be released and that's what we don't want to happen.

So I turn to Rich and tell him "You'll have to land the plane- we can't shoot it down", to which he responds "Of course." I didn't say anything, but I waited for him to realise that this requires him to get to the other plane (which is airborne) from our plane (which is also airborne). When he realised this a second later, he just went "...Oh!" I was the better pilot (being RAF and all that jolly good stuff, hawhaw!) so I was able to get the planes relatively close and keep them level (after Rich killed the tail gunner). He was the better jumper (being an expendable colonial troopie from Canada, and all) so he managed to make the leap, climb to the shattered gunners cupola, crawl down to the cockpit and kill the pilot without crashing it.

It was a crazy stunt, but it got him a Victoria's Cross (requirements for a VC is that an exceptional act of Valor is performed and witnessed by an officer of His Majesty's Armed Forces).

What a great game...

2003-06-20T15:18:00.000-04:00

Gazette Smash Hulk Movie?

Actaully, the review is pretty positive.

Four and a half stars.

From the Gazette.

For a Superhero movie...

I wasn't sure if I was going to see what was being billedas shrek II, but now I'm curious...

2003-06-18T12:54:00.000-04:00

We have always been at war with Eurasia...

A poll about the Iraq war....

2003-06-12T09:51:00.000-04:00

What's in a number

First there was the movie: Seven. Then the TV show 24. Now the novel: 253.

It's a series of short (253 words) stories of 253 passengers on a train.

2003-06-11T17:13:00.000-04:00

Vicious Circle

I've been jotting down some notes for several game supplements that I've been hoping to write out in a format that is somewhat presentable (ie, with a desktop publishing program) . I did this a few years ago with a game called Calibre, though admittedly, that was more of a pamphlet in retrospect.

The problem is not a lack of ideas, but rather a lack of time. I find myself never being home to work any any of these ideas- any time I have a free night to myself, it's an event.

Ironically enough, gaming is preventing me from writing about gaming. I'm in three regular games and two semi-regular games. As much as I hate to do it, I think I'll have to scale back on that- I certainly don't want to quit gaming outright, but rather split my attention and creative energy between my old hobby and something more permamanent that I can show off- like a gaming manual- heh!

For the longest time, I wrote off a future in freelance writing (even if freelance writing is gaming books- hey demographics is demographics, right?) for myself when I realistically assessed that at the time in my life, it was not important to schedule it. Lately, I'm starting to want it more. But getting these projects done is not so much a question of time as it is scheduling. I game on average two and a half times a week- that's two times five hours- ten hours a week. If I cut that back to 1 session a week and 1.5 five hour session of writing, then that'll be seven hours of writing I can handle.

The problems is which games do I cut back on? Additionally, I only see a lot of these friends when I game.

But then again, do I have to see all my friends every week? Even gaming doesn't count 100% as buddy time, because when you game with someone, you're not neccesarily conversing with them. Sometimes you're just watching them kill orcs or Royal Guardsmen or whatever... Furthermore, frequency of hanging out is not neccesarily a measurement of friendship.

Ah well, stuff to think about...

2003-06-11T16:38:00.000-04:00

Training!

My company is actually sending me on a course! I can't believe it! This is the first time a company has seen fit to expend valuable resources on improving my skillset! I'm so thrilled.

It's for Checkpoint NG training. It'll be nice to get some formal training since all the Firewall training I've had to date is through trial and error (and plenty of error, at that!).

2003-06-11T16:35:00.000-04:00

Holy Shit! I'm plugging Microsoft!

I was snooping around the Microsoft site, and I came across their funky cool Template Gallery, including a template for scripts (as in the movie kind, as opposed to the h4x0ring kind- though I'm sure some of these templates have defective code somewhere.

I'm not surprised that they would have this on their site, but since I never thought to look for it, I'm cooled out by it now that I've stumbled on it by chance...

2003-06-04T18:02:00.000-04:00

How much of a RPG geek am I?

Here are my results. The lower the number, the more of a geek you are- so this makes me pretty violent, while being more senstive than normal- kinda like a superhero who evacuates the stadium full of innocents before leveling it...

Your Ultimate Roleplaying Purity Score
Category	Your Score	Average
Hacklust	25.47% Has conversations in between massacres	52.6%
Sensitive Roleplaying	37.97% All the game's your stage	52.5%
GM Experience	20.29% Closer to a novel than to a campaign	67.8%
Systems Knowledge	75.99% Local rules guru	89.5%
Livin' La Vida Dorka	57.47% Has interesting conversations in public	61.3%
You are 44.98% pure Average Score: 67.3%
Take The Ultimate Roleplaying Purity Test and see how you match up!

Find out for yourself how much a geek you are here.

2003-06-03T16:33:00.000-04:00

How fucked up

is this?

My girlfriend has two cats- one who thinks he's a dog (he plays fetch), the other whom we know is really a cow (18 lbs!). She had been talking about making them an outfit for each to reflect their true nature for Halloween.

Aras, since these guys no have both them yes? (I rove Engrish!), I guess she'll just have to stitch them by hand.

2003-05-31T11:11:00.000-04:00

The end of an era

The Brunching Shuttlecocks are no more. This isn't a complete surprise, given that the updates have become less and less frequent, but they will still be missed. The SMC was the most accurate movie critic I had ever come across, and now I shall have to rely on hearsay *shudder*.

2003-05-30T17:01:00.000-04:00

Life is but a dream...

Lightspeed Chick has alerted me to the unfortunate reality that a Lord of the Rings musical is in the works.

That of course got me to wondering what other movies they'll try adapting to the stage (this is all Moulin Rouge's fault, not that I'm holding anything against that Spectacular, Spectacular production).

So I was thinking what a musical of the Matrix might look/sound like.

I decided to stop wondering about it when I envisioned Morpheus and crew singing Row, Row, Row Your boat... Life is but a dream as they explain What is The Matrix to Neo aboard Morpheus' hovercraft.

As if Agent Smith singing I am the perfect model of an anti-human sentinel wasn't bad enough...

2003-05-30T13:52:00.000-04:00

Innuendo nomenclature

Ian Fleming did it first with Honeychile Rider. Mike Myers outdid him with Alotta Fachina.

Here's a fairly complete list of all the Bond/Powers chicks with suggestive names:

from the Bond films:

Honeychile Rider (Dr. No)
Pussy Galore (Goldfinger)
Plenty O'Toole (named for her father, no doubt, in Diamonds are Forever)
Mary Goodnight (The Man with the Golden Gun)
Agent XXX (The Spy Who Loved Me)
Holly GoodHead (Moonraker)
Octopussy (from the movie of the same name)
Xenia Onnatopp (GoldenEye)

from the Austin Powers films:

Alotta Fachina
Felicity Shagwell
Dixie Normus (my favorite, by a long shot)

*update*
I forgot about Robin Swallows (maiden name Spitz)
and Ivana Humpalot...

The Austin Powers names are pretty good (hey, 5 good names in 3 movies), but the Bond film names are continuing in a downward trend that they can't get out of (I mean, Jinx? What kind of stupid name is that- it works for the GIJoe ninja women, but not for a Bond chick).

I'd like to propose a little contest; I know the bulk of the readers of this blog are far more imaginative than the guys at MGM, so I invite you all to submit a suggestion for a suitable Bond film before the next Austin Powers movie comes along and takes your ideas (though they may be following in the downward trend- I mean Fook Mi and Fook Yu? At least try, Mike! Try!

My submission: Joanna Gettsum

Oh, and just so you don't think I'm being a sexist misanthrope, don't be shy about suggesting male names (such as Lance GoodThrust, or Buck Naked), though I'll say it now that any names that start with Dick are too easy.

2003-05-29T09:24:00.000-04:00

It's funny because it's true

It's nice to know that Aaron McGruder shares the same tastes in TV as I do.

2003-05-23T17:08:00.000-04:00

Brains!

Here's some interesting alternatives to rating intelligence quotient.

I guess this means I have to add new stats to all those character sheets for the games I run... ;)

2003-05-23T11:50:00.000-04:00

Matrix H4x0ring

Thanks to Soula for bringing this to my attention:

The fellas who made the Matrix know their audience, so they did their research well.

Trinity hacks through the firewall (a.k.a. motorcycles / crash-slides / blows herself up real good right smack into the building ;-) to access a physical terminal, then uses a real command called Nmap to tunnel into an SSH box and execute a two-year old exploit (Soula also added a comment about how ridiculous that is since IT departments always make sure their security patches are up to date- I'm still trying to wipe the facetiousness from my Inbox).

Trinity's final screen run goes thus:

Nmap run completed -- 1 IP address (1 host up) scanned
# sshnuke 66.35.250.150 -rootpw="z10n0101"
Connecting to 66.35.250.150:ssh ... successful.
Attempting to exploit SSHv1 CRC32 ... successful.
Resetting root password to "z10n0101".
System open: Access level
# ssh 66.35.250.150 -l root
root@66.35.250.150's password

(BTW, if you want a good laugh, type in the IP she uses in a web browser. Or just click here: http://66.35.250.150)

As some geek posted on Slashdot; "the entry IP is 10.2.2.2, which is on the 10.0.0.0 / 255.0.0.0 network reserved for private usage", which I figure is why she *had* to get into the building, 'cause that's just *not* accessable over the outside public Net.

Oh, note her root password is "Zion 5", spelled in h4x0r . (Apparently, the current Zion in "Reloaded" is the fifth incarnation of the last free human city.)

Click here for details of the exploit and screenshots up as the top running article (as of today, anyway).

2003-05-22T09:44:00.000-04:00

Not US

There's a book out which spells out the difference between Canadians and Americans. I don't know if I need a whole book to spell out the difference, but the article about it does a good job in just a few paragraghs.

2003-05-16T17:52:00.000-04:00

What are you waiting for?

Uh, seeing as how the NRA is right and all, what're all you yanks waiting for? Overthrow your government and implement a just form of representation already!

From my cold dead hands!

2003-05-16T17:47:00.000-04:00

American Justice

What galls me is that after beating the crap out of some younger kids, some of the accused are challenging the schools decision to expel them because it might hurt their academic standing.

It is my hope that these little rat bastards have the most prestigious standing in the adult prison they should spend close to a year in, but as these are affluent, upper class, white kids, their mommies and daddies' lawyers will get them off.

You know, I think I figured out why there's so much gun death down in the US. Their ineffective Justice system practically begs their citizenry to take up arms to settle the matters that the courts accpet payments to ignore. I take it all back- the NRA is right!

2003-05-16T17:37:00.000-04:00

Bay at the Moon!

Was that not a frickin' cool Lunar Eclipse last night? I knew it was happening, but forgot to make plans to see it. Fortunately, I happened to go out for a walk with the angelic being whom I somehow convinced into dating me, and we were able to get a good look at it.

Lunar Eclipses are far more enjoyable than solar eclipses where you don't have to fear any form of eye cancer, retinal cataracts or any of the other forms of semi- or permament blindness that can result from staring at a Sun with a moon in front of it.

2003-05-14T00:32:00.000-04:00

What's Up with me and gaming, eh?

I haven't really talked much about gaming lately. Remo is fine (no! He is better than that- 12th level now, and dimension dooring once per day!)

I'm in not one, but two D&D games- actually I'm running one. The first one is with the perfection that is Remo. We are slogging through the Underdark in the Forgotten Realms (we took a trip through a Mythago type Wood and switched dimensions out of friendly, love-able GreyHawk). Power levels seem to be more prevalent in the Forgotten Realms. For example, a 5th level fighter, who should have about 9000 GP worth of kit and would probably be a Captain in an army on GreyHawk (with the better pay and perks) has to settle for being a private (or corporal, perhaps) in the Forgotten Realms. I find myself wondering if level inflation has reduced what a 5th level character can earn, essentially meaning if he would be equipped as a 1st level grunt in GreyHawk, or if Forgotten Realms is so wealthy that privates and frontline cannon fodder are all equipped with 9000 GP worth of magical kit, in which case, I say alignment be damned, let's turn to petty theft and muggings for our stay here, grab as much kit as we can off of the 5th level commoners we should be encountering everywhere we go, and sell the kit when we get back to GreyHawk.

I'm also running a game with Scott (as our Paladin), Ceri (as our Rogue), Rob (as our mage), Ron (as our Ranger) and Pat (the druid, who for once is not playing a one man killing machie capable of wiping out the rest of the party by himself). It's very enjoyable- I'm running this game in a gameworld of my own creation, but which is strangely reminiscent of Europe, but with different names. There are two NPCs- a cleric named Brendan (he used to be a Paladin, but there was a certain amount of redundancy, and PCs rarely want to be clerics, so converting Brendan was fairly easy), and Lars- a Dwarven fighter. Overall, it's a good group.

Legends of the Jade Princess is the game that T! is running. We all play privateers working for England and a fictional country named Tyrolia, a fierce ally of the British. The game is set in 1628 (same time as the Trhee Musketeers, though we haven't run into them, thank god, though Cardinal Richelieu is proving to be a thorn in our side. The game has been running on and off for a few years (the first session was actually way back in 1996! T! would run it as a 30 min teaser before Top Secret games), and we're looking at closing the campaign in 8 to 10 sessions. It will be sorely missed. I also have the unique position of playing a twin. My roomate and I decided it might be fun to play twins, to do the identidy mix up schtick- which T! has used very effectively over the years (though not too often, since the same gag every session gets lame). My character is named Lt Robert Flashblade, and he is a Britsh Navy Officer in His Majesty's navy. He's a crack shot with a mucket, and pretty good with a sword. The character who is his brother, Sebastien, is a roguish swashbuckler. He often gets into trouble, and after I am mistaken for him, I get him out of it usually through violent means (though as the game has progressed, his martial skills have improved to the point where he no longer has to rely on me, or his wits- he's a threat himself). The game itself is great because the entire group has a chemistry that is very unique with these characters. LoTJP will definitely be a gaming high point for anyone who was in it.

New Star Wars is still ongoing, though I find it's suffering from a lack of momentum. The schedules of the players (and GMs) in this game are pretty busy. I''m thinking that I'll have to start adopting a complete adventure in one session format to get anything done, since cliffhangers are less effective when there are six weeks between adventures.

I'm planning a low level supers game called FREELancers: basically it's a mercendary espionage organization that trains metahumans and then takes contracts to have its supers work for whatever organization can pay for its unique services. It has contracts with various governments, corporations, etc... Picture Professor X's school, but add a billable services division to it. I'm pretty excited at the idea so far- and seeing X2 has only made me more keen to run this game. It'll be with the group that does LoTJP, so it'll be waiting until after that campaign ends (in that respect, I can wait, since LotJP is such a blast).

Last, but certainly not least, I still get in an occasional Dark Champions game when the players in the group can get together (usually it's once every 6-10 weeks), which is not an easy feat considering we live in three seperate cities (though when Biff moves to Ottawa next month, it'll only be two). We played at the beginning of the month, and had a blast. I'm still playing Shaft, the Avenging Archer, and starting to get a good handle on the character. I wrote up a farily detailed origin for him and shared it with the group. The thing that is cool with this campaign is the rotation of GMs. There are five players in the group, but four of us GM- so we rotate. It's an interesting way to cooperatively shape a campaign world and keep the creativity levels high. We're also big on props with this one- we have a set of index cards with pictures to use for NPCs, and we tend to print out an issue of the Bay Area Guide (the BAG) with stories related to subplots we want to introduce.

My gaming schedule is pretty manageable, since all my games are bi-weekly at best, so I'm not as swarmed by gaming commitments as you might think. In fact, things have lightened up since my World in Flames game ended a few weeks ago (that was a weekly game). I had hit a creative plateau a while back, but recently I seem to have gotten a lot of my energy for gaming back- I think planning the games and giving them some real thought instead of preparing them at the last minute has definitely helped.

I'm toying with the idea of documenting some of my ideas to make some kind of supplement for some of my games might be a fun project. I wouldn't be doing this with the idea of publishing it, it's mroe a reference document for my various games. It'll also be a good dry run in case Iever do decide to make something for mass consumption.

2003-05-12T23:37:00.000-04:00

What a weekend... or should I say what weekend?

This past weekend was jam-packed. Well, actually, all my weekends are jam-packed, but this weekend was particularly jam-packed, even for me.

On Saturday, I had a Firewall change to do in the morning, followed by a wedding to attend in the afternoon. Ordinarily, this would be a real problem since I know that anytime you have to be some where after a maintenance, you can pretty much kiss those plans goodbye. I can't count the number of times plans fel through because a maintenace went longer than planned. This time, I told my co-worker in Ottawa that I'd do the change on the date he requested, but that I had a wedding to attend, and that even if the change wasn't finished and the office was in flames with martial law declared and citizens rioting in the streets, I'd be gone and he'd have to deal with the mess if we weren't done by noon. He said he understood, and asked if I could start at 7am.

Fortunately, both the Firewall change and the wedding went as planned. I was out of my office just a little after noon, as agreed (with the changes successfully implemented) and I was dressed and heading out West to Dorval for the ceremony by 2:30pm.

The wedding was that of Adam and Karine. Adam's a friend that I met a few years ago. We've been in a Salon together, and I can usually expect an interesting discussion with him at any party we see each other at. Karine is a fellow gamer (though in retrospect, we haven't been in that many games together, or more precisely, the games we end up in together don't usually last that long, unfortunately). I was very happy for both of them when I found out they were seeing one another- they are one of those couples that you might not have thought of matching together, but once they've taken the steps to match themselves together, you can't help but look back and say to yourself "Well, duh! How come I didn't predict that?"

At any rate, I know the two of them fairly well, but not so well that I was automatically expecting to be invited to their wedding. I have to say, there is something nice about receiving an invitation like that- it's a confirmation that you mean more to those friends than you might have dared to hope. One of the unfortunate realities about weddings is that every person you invite adds to the cost of your celebration, so very often some hard choices have to be made. Sometimes, when you hear that a couple you know is getting married, you have to expect the realitiy that finances might prevent you from being invited, so when you do get that invite, it means that much more.

The wedding was very traditional- the ceremony was pretty much by the book (the book being the one that Catholics/Anglicans use) though it was bilingual- he is a squarehead, er... anglophone, and she is a francophone, so I found it a nice touch that each of them recited their vows in the other's mother tongue. Also, in attempt to not kill the local pigeonry, we blew soap bubbles instead of tossing confetti after the ceremony (birds can't digest confetti- so it expands and blows them up good).

Great weather was had for a wedding- adding to the pleasure of the event. There's something nice about havin the sun join you on a day like that.

The reception was at the Dorval Hilton (and five different airline companies made arrangements to do flybys while we sipped on wedding punch). Around the dinner hour, the reception moved inside to an indoor hall, where we had the meal.

After Adam and Karine entered, we gave them a toast. That's right- a Toast. Toast! That is correct. We gave them a Toast. If this looks like an injoke to you, it is, but I'll explain it to you:

(toast)

As were seated at our tables, there was Melba toast at each of our spots. The MC asked us to give the bride and groom the toast when they walked in. It would have been funny, except that the MC chose to explain the gag to the crowd like we were a litter of retarded dalmatian puppies. She uber-emphasized the word toast to the point where it didn't require too much effort to guess that some kind of gag involving a broiled bread product would be involved. Those of you who know me and Taras can look forward to the usage of the word toast as a new kibbage term for blatantly obvious.

The reception was a blast! DJ Jazzy Jeff was our DJ (although he was much darker on TV- I seem to remember him as a funky black guy who hung out with Will Smith. In person, he's actually a middle aged white guy with blond hair). We ended up staying their until 1am-ish, and weren't the last ones to leave (those of you who know Adam will no doubt be curious to know if he was the last one to leave his own wedding party: he and Karine were still there, dancing the night away when we left, so I can't answer that at this time...)

This wedding was great, but I think what really made it special to me was having someone particularly special to attend it with. I've never actually dated anyone long enough to get to the point where I believed the relationship might have any chance of being a permanent one, but now that I've been dating Annika for five months, I have to admit, that possibility does occur to me a lot. It's a lot more enjoyable to bask in someone else's happiness when you have a similar happiness to relate to it with.

The next day was Mother's day, so I got to celebrate it with the other special lady in my life. I sent my mom a dozen long-stemmed white roses from the florist on Dorval Ave (one of the island's best florists, if you need to know, and with West-Island friendly delivery rates). She liked them, but I think she liked the card/envelope more: I addressed it to the world's greatest mom and advised anyone else who might accidentally deliver it to their own mother upon reading it that it was in fact addressed to my mom! The envelope made her laugh, but the card made her cry- I'll spare you the contents- if you must know what the card said, go back in time, give birth to me and do as good a job as she did raising me, and maybe I'll let you know the details. ;)

Of course, this was the first Mother's Day where I had to juggle Mother's Day celebrations with my extremely-signifigant other. We had lunch with Annika's Mom (and her sister too) at the Trois Soeurs restaurant in Beaupaire village, followed by supper at my parents place. Overall, it was a pretty packed weekend- not much time to catch up on reading and vegging in front of the TV. But it was a really good weekend- the best one in a long time. I'd do it all again next weekend if I could, but this time, with the benefit of hindsight, I might have taken Monday off this time...

2003-05-09T10:59:00.000-04:00

*cough*

I must have gotten shit on my contacts this morning, because there's no way I can actually be reading this.

2003-04-30T14:15:00.000-04:00

Okay, make an endurance roll...

Looks like they're releasing a book on Erotic Fantasy for the d20 system. Suddenly, the Great Fortitude and Endurance feats have another application (and suddenly dwarves and gnomes, with their +2 CON bonuses, have another racial advantage...

2003-04-28T14:29:00.000-04:00

some Good News for a Change

My blog seems to have become a forum for my political bitching, so I thought for a change, I'd try and put up something positive.

I may even start doing this regularly- and's it has nothing to do with my brief stay in Room 101. ;)

2003-04-24T10:39:00.000-04:00

Bauer, move away from the fin

I hate to say it, but I'm starting to think that 24 might have jumped the shark two episodes ago. The series started off really well, but (without giving too much away), after a signifigant event occurs two-thirds into the show, it seems like rest of the show is just treading water until the 24 hour mark is reached. I'll still watch it in season three (I still got sixteen good hours of television out of nineteen, and the series may pickup as it nears the end) but for now, it's just dragging.

2003-04-24T10:30:00.000-04:00

Picture your student loan as a white ball of healing light

I love being able to my banking on-line. One of the biggest advantages that banking on-line provided me with was the ability to make student loan lump sum payments on-line. This service was a key factor in allowing me to reduce my debt by 75% over the course of 12 months last year.

About a month ago, with only about 15% of my original loan left to settle, and just before I got my tax return, I got a letter from my bank telling me that "in order to improve service to me", student loan processing was being transferred to another department- it's not the bank's fault; the government was unwilling to negotiate a deal with them to process student loans. As such, I was no longer able to make lump sum payments on-line, and would have to fax my lump sum payment requests in with a notice of three business days. Furthermore, I'd never know exactly what my balance was, and would have to call at any given moment to know the exact figure.

After I got my tax return, my first attempt to make a lump sum payment was a waste of time. I sent in a fax, expecting to chop down my loan signifigantly, only to find out that they never received the fax (I have a confirmation slip suggesting that they did- so somewhere, out there, in their call centre limbo is an unread fax, requesting a pay off of a few hundred dollars... *sigh*). They said to check again at the end of the day, since it evidently takes a full business day to make it from the mail room to the call centre (?). I called again at the end of the business day, and they hadn't received it. They told me to call tomorrow. I called again, recognising the signs of a badly-run call centre and knowing that it wouldn't be in, and was totally correct in my suspicions. What gives? I wanted to give them a fuckwad of money, and they seemed to have a problem accepting it.

So I decided that despite the slightly higher interest rate, and the fact that I won't get 17% of the interest back at tax time, I'd be better off using my line of credit (which I can manage on-line) and settling the amount in full rather than dealing with this aggravation every time I wanted to pay off a loan. This time they received the fax, though it took them over a week to process it (to their credit, they didn't charge me interest on the days past the third business day, which is nice, since I'd hate to go through the aggravation faxing them like this for 3 or 4 dollars). So now, technically, my student loan is paid off, though I'm still in the hole for a few hundred bucks in my line of credit. All I can say is thank god this happened near the end instead of near the beginning.

I don't understand why the student loan organization can't be at the same level of service as the other services in the bank. Fortunately, it's not a problem I have to deal with anymore...

2003-04-18T14:26:00.000-04:00

Our tax dollars at work

If I was on welfare, I might not spend 840$/month on lottery tickets....

2003-04-17T10:53:00.000-04:00

How 'bout that war?

http://www.warblogging.com

2003-04-05T12:29:00.000-05:00

GM seeks good material to rip off for campaign

I have discovered that it's far easier to come up with good ideas for adventures for my gaming groups when I am regularly watching good movies or TV, or reading good books- other people's good work acts as an inspiration for my games. I know there's no shortage of good novels out there, and there's a list the size of my arm of books that I want to get through. However, it occurs to me that there's a sever shortage of good movies out there. I saw Chicago earlier this wek (it was very good), and will be seeing Phone Booth later today (I hope), but there isn't much out there that has inspired me to go out and see movies. Similarly, there is some good TV out there, but the only show I make an effort for is 24. I miss Babylon 5, not only because it was good TV viewing, but it was so rich in material. With Farscape off the air, it seems to me like there isn't any good sci-fi out there for us to watch. If you know otherwise, please let me know.

2003-04-05T11:59:00.000-05:00

He today who loses hit points with me shall be my brother; be he ne'er so vile

Break out the black armbands. The perfection that is Remo has fallen. Woe to all. It is a bleak day in GreyHawk- or it would be, had Remo died in GreyHawk. As he has died in the Forgotten Realms, where he has not had time to enlighten that dimension with the wisdom of Tae Kwan Leap, it is understandable that the residents of that realm do not take to the streets en masse, tearing at their hair and gnashing their teeth in grief.

(And just when he hit 12th level too, with the power attack feat. *sigh*)

Fortunately, in D&D, once you hit a high enough level, where the party can afford a few Restore Dead/Ressurection spells (unless the PALADIN of the group decides against any kind of healing for the monk- grrr, grr), death is a lesson in humility that only sets you back a few thousand experience points- enough to lose a level, but not so much that the loss will be for long. But now that Remo has tasted the glory of the power attack feat, he wishes to strive for it again.

I'm enjoying this D&D game very much. As the game is mostly in French, it gives me a chance to practice my second language a bit in a non-work environment (i say mostly French, because a lot of the references remain English- no one says une hache plusse deux or boule de feux, we tend to use the English terms. Additionally, I find that I've warmed up to the group. Any time a new player comes into a group, it takes a while for the dynamic to settle. When I first joined up, I tended to talk mostly to the DM and the rogue of the group, since I worked with the guy who plays him every day, and the dwarf fighter of the group, since he was also a co-worker, whough I didn't work with him directly. I have to admit, things really clicked between me and the dwarf when we both got our asses handed to us by a mercendary platoon we tried to take on by ourselves- Shakespeare says that he who sheds his blood with me shall be my brother in Henry V- know this- the rule applies to Hit points as well.

As the mage of our group is temporarily DMing us though what is looking to be a lengthy module, I'm getting more of a chance to interact with him (he also tends to stick to French more than our regular DM, with whom I have a bad habit of slipping into English- until this past week when we decided to actively try speaking French at the office all the time). I also seem to have developed a somewhat antagonistic rivalry with the paladin since I decided a few weeks ago to play Remo as a complete prick (I guess familiarity breeds contempt- hehhehheh). A new player has also joined the group as a druid, adding some much need magical muscle to our ranks (actually, he's been in for two months, but when you only play once every two weeks, two months is only four sessions ago, so it takes a while to settle- believe me, I know- I feel settled now after what, eight months, though admittedly I was absent a lot of that time while taking a class that conflicted with the game). Needless to say, now that I'm comfortable with the group, an already fun game has increaingly become more enjoyable.

At Ceri's request, I'm looking to get the D&D game I started with her back in gear. My roommate, Pat, has also been pressing me to get a game going, so I've decided to solve two issues at once by including him in this game. As my World in Flames game ended, my Mondays have become free, so I'm hoping to get D&D going every two weeks.

The new D&D 3rd edition is interesting. It combines aspects of a roleplaying game with elements of a tabletop strategy game. While roleplaying and character interaction are important and essential to the game, the combat system stresses the importance of teamwork and tactics. We have recently decided that we have to come up with tactics to effectively counter some of the opposition we are running into- meleeing may have worked for Nelson, but he was using boats!

When you analyse the various character types and their strengths and weakneses, you can develop some good strategy that, given enough time, become drills. For example, I have discovered that monks can give opposing mages a hard time- the usual strategy is to set up a screen of fighters between a mage and his target. The monk is usually able to tumble his way past that screen, and deliever effective hand to hand attacks (often stunning the mage) while fighting defensively (since mages often have low armor class ratings, making them easy targets. Additionally, the monks high maneuverability allows him to synchronise with the rogue to flank an opponent allowing the rogue to sneak attack. The structure of the combat system is such that the placement of your characters in the battle can affect theoutcome, giving it a certain strategic element that appeals to tabletop war gamers.

2003-04-05T11:25:00.000-05:00

The art of troubleshooting

I spent last night setting up a bunch of routing and Firewall changes for one of my company's major projects in Ottawa. During this maintenance, it occured to me that there is a certain parallel between creating art and trouble-shooting. The results are different of course, but there are similarities in the process: you can sit there looking for an idea/solution for hours, and keep running into a wall. Suddenly, you have an idea, and the solution literally falls into place.

Of course, troubleshooting is more processed. Unlike art, you can document the procedures and build a database of known issues. I suppose it would be difficult to create an installation manual for art, though one can argue that since art can be taught, the knowledge an artist builds up over their career is a customized database of knowledge. The troubleshooter learns how to troubleshoot in a similar manner- the more knowledge a tech can refer to, the better he is at combining solutions from those sources, just as an artist who has studied the work of others has more reference to draw inspiration from.

In both cases, a little bit of intuition is needed. An artist who creates a work without putting a bit of themselves into it is just a photocopier, and a tech who troubleshoots solely by the provided documentation without attempting to understand the big picture is merely a capable end user.

2003-03-26T16:48:00.000-05:00

An eye opener

I bet this causes some tension at the next Bush family GT.

2003-03-18T16:21:00.000-05:00

Then again, it might be the best way to find them...

Hmmm(n)... if Saddam Hussein has chemical weapons hidden throughout Iraq, I'm sure getting them launched onto the invading US troops is probably not the nest way to have found them. On the other hand, the US will find all that oil...

It's going to be an ugly war...

2003-03-18T01:57:00.000-05:00

Don't Waste your Time with this Merger

I made the mistake of reading a collection of Amalgam Comics stories. Amalgam Comics, for those of you who don't know, was an attempt by Marvel and DC to merge characteristics of characters together into an alternate reality. Typical characters are Dark Claw- a combination of Batman and Wolverine, or Speed Demon- a combination of the Flash and the Demon Etrigan, or Bruce Wayne, Agent of Shield, a millionaire who joined the Spy agency after his career spy parents were killed by Lex Luthor, the Green Skull. I never read a more masturbatory collection of crap. That's really what this entire series is- it offers nothing new, just old stories and charcters put together in stock stories of both continuities. It's bad enough that mainstream comics offers so little in the way of the new and innovative- I don't need to see Marvel and DC collaborating in a fellating of their same old crap that they've recyled through a mix and match process (ShatterStarFire- a combination of Starfire of the Teen Titans with ShatterStar of the X-whatever- it's like they're not even trying anymore). At least the Elseworlds did interesting variations of old ideas. Amalgam is just proof that two poor collections of ideas do not add up to a good one.

2003-03-18T01:33:00.000-05:00

Devil's Advocate

I sort of buried my outrage against Bush's policies in a pile of apathy a few days ago. It occured to me that the "free world" has been the US' bitch since after the second world war. The UN has never reallly been that effective at keeping the peace, since members of the Security council always vetoed resolutions which went against their wishes anyways.

The US has given Saddam Hussein 48 hours to get out. I don't know what to say. Bush may be a moron, but he shines in comparisson to Hussein. I won't be sorry to see Hussein ousted, and in some ways, I'm kind of glad that he's getting the firm application of foot to ass that he deserves. I will be sorry to see Iraq bombed back into the Stone Age (kinda ironic since there is a lot of speculation that civilization started in that area of the world known as the fertile crescent).

I'm wondering though- do I disagree with Bush solely because of his methods: it's not hard to do- the current oligarchy of the US have the diplomatic skills of King Kong. If they were a little more charming (like Slick Willie), they could probably get what they wanted; would I be buying into the bullshit? I hate to say it, but I probably would. As a general rule, I liked Clinton and the Democrat's policies- I find that they at least pay lip service to the international concerns- but remember this is the guy who ordered the biggest air strike on Kosovo the week he was to be impeached- it's a good way to manipulate the masses. He was able to pull it off because he's a lot more charming than the baboon that George Herber Walker B. groomed as his replacement. I have no doubt that if Clinton wanted to get a UN coalition to depose Hussein, he could. If he tried to organise it, I suspect that I'd be for it. Yet he didn't. So why didn't he?

In a way, one can say that Bush's policies are brutally honest (but then again, you can say that about the Mob). He is open about the contempt that his government holds the rest of the world in. I suppose Bush would have less problems if he were a little more well-mannered about his desire for conquest.

One has to wonder about the French and the Russians as well. Are they opposing the US out of spite or out of genuine concern about Iraq? I'm inclined to think it's the former. I understand that Germany and France get a signifigant chunk of their oil out of Iraq, and maybe they are happy with the status quo with a gelded Hussein at the tap instead of the omnipotent Americans.

This disdain for Bush's America is not the rest of the world's way of disgruntedly acknowledging that the US is really the super power we've all known it to be- it's disdain for their newly adopted policy of acting like a child screaming "gimme gimme gimme" whom the rest of the workld can't stop. But Bush's administration should learn something from the school yard: bullies might be able to get anyone's lunch money, but no one hangs out with them after school.

At any rate, I have decided that I no longer give two tugs of a dead dog's dick about international diplomacy. To fuckery with the politicians. Democracy is a farce- the Western World's governments are oligarchies of weatlhy, white families of northern European descent that are continuining the colonial Empires they claim to have outgrown after the second world war. Anyone who believes that the will of the people can change things has bought into CNN a little too much.

I can't wait until the US has a president with charisma again so we can all "really" believe we're safe and free once more.

2003-03-17T12:39:00.000-05:00

What do Economists do all day?

This...

2003-03-14T13:35:00.000-05:00

A shameless plug

For those of you who are rockin' your heads to the excellent Sam Roberts tunes hitting the airwaves, you should know he's a Montrealer. I know this because I went to high school with him.

I barely knew him in high school (there were 3 grades between us), but my brother was good friends with him and still keeps in touch. I'm happy to say that he really doesn't need my endorsement- but his success has not come without a lot of hard work.

Needless to say, I picked up his album. Even if I wasn't biased, I think it's quite good. It's not a full length album- there are only 7 tracks on it, but all of them are good, which is more than I can say for most bands these days.

Now, I'm not saying to rush out and buy the album- I have no doubt that Sam will get another deal soon- (I only hope that Mutt Lange doesn't get his grimy little paws on him), but if you've got a few minutes at HMV, give it 10 minutes of your time at the listening post and judge for yourself.

Or just listen to the radio- his music is playing enough...

2003-03-13T11:00:00.000-05:00

Perceptive Journalism

Apparently, a war in Iraq would hurt Montreal Tourism. Poor us.

I'm amazed that the Gazette feels we need to have a news article to point this out. Then again, if the Gazette is where you're getting your news from, maybe you do need the obvious pointed out to you.

Think they'll have a story ion what war will do to Baghdad's tourism? 200,000+ Americans would be expected to visit, plus some British, Spanish, and maybe even up to 3 dozen Canadians!

(I can't believe that sending a mere platoon of Canucks is newsworthy. We are officially NATO's bitch)

2003-03-11T23:33:00.000-05:00

Deflation of Computer Textbooks

The thing I hate most about book liquidation centres are the times you come across a computer textbook you paid 130$ for a year ago for 20$. Frick.

2003-03-11T23:24:00.000-05:00

Is it me, or is the US starting to look like the Empire?

You know, the sad thing is I wasn't even surprised when I read this.

2003-03-11T22:49:00.000-05:00

Trading nachos for beer in the long run

So I had the privilege of hanging out with LightSpeed Chick last night for a drink at Hurley's. For those of you who read her blog, you may be aware that she's developed a rep for dashing out of bars withoput paying for her nachos and stiffing one of her numerous admirers with the bill. Well, this time, not only did she repay me for the nachos she owed me, she also generously covered the pair of Boddington ales I tossed back over the evening- everyone involved can consider this her official redemption (you know who you are).

It was a good evening. We chatted about a wide range of topics- everything from the inbred dating habits of circles of geeks to the problems with the Two Towers to the proliferation of biology and biochemistry students in the IT industry. It was nice to catch up with her,since it seems like I've fallen off the face of the blogger community of late.

At any rate, I promised her that I'd make it publicly known that she is out of the hole for her eat and run antics. The slate is now clean!

2003-02-22T15:24:00.000-05:00

I'm not dyslexic, but...

I was checking out the movie ads to see what crap is being shoveled our way and as I skim read over the titles, I see the title "Gods and Genitals". Huh? I look back and see that it is in fact Gods and Generals, the prequesl to Gettysburg.

Oh well, at least I know what the title of the porno version will be.

2003-02-21T19:49:00.000-05:00

What's next? Dissident blogs?

The US shut down Somalia's Internet... Curiously enough, any searches about it on CNN point you to the BBC. It's like they didn't fidn it newsworthy, or something.

2003-02-21T19:42:00.000-05:00

If you think the US has me on a watch list for my Bush bashing, wait until you read this...

Thanks to one of my numerous clones for bringing this to my attention. I'll paraphrase his email to me:

________________________________________________________________________

Anyone heard of the T.I.A? That's the Office of Total Information Awareness- the latest DARPA project.

It's purpose: Capture *all* data on domestic Americans - phone, email, wireless, browser/internet, credit card databases, public library records, *everything* and filter through A.I."black boxes" not only as dictionary searches but to correlate and predict patterns of potential terrorist future actions based on whatever factors deemed relevant by the authorities. (Basically: "Alert! John Brown, of 1234 Wherever St, Boston, has just bought online at Amazon a history of the Black Panther and Weather Underground movements from the 1960s. Brown was previously camera captured at an anti-war rally in Washington July 4, 2005. Brown's oldest daughter was audio-captured uttering anti-government comments in a University PolSci class Jan 17, 2003. Open file on John Brown and bring up to orange status for in-depth follow-through. If Brown does anything else suspicious bring to human attention") (No, I'm not kidding or exaggerating.)

Database search technology of this level of sophistication of course does not exist yet. DARPA therefore proposes to invent it.

Admiral John Poindexter (on Iran-Contra fame - was convicted in court, then charges and sentence were, ahh, "dropped" subsequently) appointed by Prez Shrub himself to run the T.I.A. office.

Civil libertarians freak out. Bloggers go wild. Mainstream media curiously ignores story...

T.I.A. webpage goes live. Main page lists bios of directors and displays the T.I.A.'s official seal. (Sit down - you are *not* going to believe this without proof. Keep in mind this is not a joke or parody - they really really chose this as their badge of office)

Seal is a thirteen-step pyramid with an open all-seeing eye in capstone, rays emanating from eye to oversee a globe of Earth turning beneath it. Slogan is "Scientia Est Potentia" ("Knowledge is Power")

About a week or so later, the logo and all bios are suddenly yanked off T.I.A.'s page. A while after that a journalist asks a government official about the seal -- did they know it is a common symbol of the Illuminati (in addition to being the Great Seal of the United States, check your greenbacks, folks...) and why was it suddenly pulled without comment? Official says, "what are you talking about? There never was such a logo!", with straight face.

Journalist then calmly asks, "Have you ever heard of a thing called a 'Google cache'?"

This is the current webpage:

Hmmm... Interestingly enough, the present Goggle cache has been "refreshed" to show the same page as above. (No paranoia is warranted here, I believe -- just means Goggle's latest spidering has automatically overwritten the old version with a more recently captured one.)

But don't despair! The Net is geek territory: This is one of several back-up caches separately maintained on private servers, this one at the site "Computer Bytes Man""

Finally, something that I didn't mention that is sure to tingle your sense of black irony. The info-security site "Cryptome" is hosting a neat little protest campaign which basically says: "Well, fine! If it's ok, even 'patriotic' for government officials to stalk and record all details of ordinary citizens' lives, then tit for tat applies, ladies and gentlemen."

They've been encouraging geeks to go out and collect (stressed only "legally allowable") information on those same officials. That way, *everyone* can join in on the fun, gang! Why not publish info, including addresses and private phone numbers, and show off pictures and commercial satellite captures of the private homes of these officials. And why not start with the Eye of Sauron himself, a.k.a. Admiral and Mrs. Poindexter's residence?

Tell us, you scumbag - how does it feel to be the one at the *other end* of your Eye-scope? Smile, Admiral: You're on Candid Camera!

This is part of Cryptome's "Eyeball" series. Ever wanted to see pictures and orbital images of U.S. military bases, DoD sites, and other "sensitive" government installations (not to mention the Statue of Liberty and Camp David, among others) for yourself? No prob! Go thee here and "eyeball" this ever-growing (and legal - so far...) collection of images.

2003-02-21T19:30:00.000-05:00

Switch over! You'll be pleased too!

Because sometimes using your powers for good just ain't worth it...

2003-02-18T14:05:00.000-05:00

Reminds me of my old days at an ISP I won't mention out of respect to Worldcom...

These posters are sure to motivate your co-workers to new lows...

2003-02-18T01:13:00.000-05:00

Roll your Irony Check

As much as I like the D20 system, one of the things I detest about it is the D20 itself. I've thrown away (translation, launched, hurled , sent into orbit, catapulted, etc...) about four or five of them over the several years that I've been gaming when they failed me too many times in a row, and I don't miss the fuckers. I'm especially fond of one D20 that I pounded into powder. It remains my favorite d20 of all time, because the only good D20 is a dead D20.

It's such a treacherous die- both from the player's point of view and the GM's- I'm sure every GM has a story about how a roll that he wanted the player's to succeed on was botched all around, foiling his storyline. You have results that span such a wide degree of success or failure: this results in a game that depends far more on luck than on probability. The same goes with percentile dice, though a pair of d10s have the redeeming value of you being able to roll them and add them, and a real d100 has the advantage that you can put it on a tee and use a nine iron on it when it fucks up one too many times on you. I have a much greater preference for systems that have you roll two or three dice and add the results: they give you a curve that is less frustrating. I like systems that give you additional dice (like the old Star Wars game) the best, since you can practically bank on what a player will roll and set the obstacles to match it.

Consider the range of a single d20 versus 3 six sided dice. The d20 will give you a result that is totally random between 1 and 20 with an avergae roll of 10.5. The 3 six sided dice will roll 3.5 each on average, also giving you 10.5 when you add them up, but you'll get the 10.5 far more often since a high roll on one individual die is likely to be countered by a low roll on another die. This is nice because is gives you a more reliable base to work with when calculating what you can do. If you know you have a +8 to hit, you can count on regularly hitting targets with difficulty numbers in the high teens.

The nice thing about a curved system is that when you roll low or high, it really does stand out. Fumbles don't happen 1 out of 20 times in "real" hand to hand combat, but when you roll a 17 or 18 on 3 D6, everybody is impressed. Even using 2 ten sided dice and adding the results gives you a more intersting curve than the lone d20.

2003-02-17T16:14:00.000-05:00

Two links for these interesting times that we live in

The first link is an interview with Kurt Vonnegut .

The second is a possible (probable?) outcome of any Iraqi war.

2003-02-15T18:55:00.000-05:00

Minder your own business

Since I've talked about books and movies, I figure I may toss in a word about comics as well...

I've started picking up Queen and Country graphic novels. This is a gritty series about a team of British spies. It's not Bond-esque in the least. Any Quiller fan would like them.

I'm also still collecting the new GIJoe series. It has yet to disappoint me, though I wouldn't call it brilliant. I'm a little disappointed each issue because I find that they are awfuly short, but such is the comics industry these days. At 4-5$ a pop, this is the only series I'll be collecting, and if it ever fails to meet the standards I hope for, it'll be quickly dropped.

2003-02-15T18:51:00.000-05:00

Backlog of viewing

The Life of Pi is a quick read, so it hasn't interupted the backlog of DVDs and TV shows that I've been meanign to watch too badly.

Recently, I've managed to catch the musical episode of Buffy the Vampire Slayer, "Once More, with Feeling". This is an episode that people either like a lot, or despise. The people who despise it, usually dislike musicals in general, and dislike the musical nature of the episode rather than the episode itself: that is, I have yet to discuss the episode with anyone who said that the episode was a lousy musical.

It's not the best musical ever. That award is currently shared between Moulin Rouge and An American in Paris in my opinion- feel free to differ in yours. Out of the cast, Anthony Stewart Head (Giles) and Amber Benson (Tara) are the only ones who could make it professionally as singers, but the others give it a good effort that pays off (the producers must have realised that Head and Benson stood out, since they get a tad more song time than any co-star except for Sara Michelle Gellar herself, but then again Gellar is the one whom they name the show after...)

I've also managed to watch a few episodes of Band of Brothers. This is an excellent 10 episode mini-series about a company (company is a group of about 100 men, consists of three platoons) of American airborne infantry soldiers from the 101st Airborne division. It has a look to it that is similar to Saving Private Ryan. It's also free of the American flag waving that many viewers fear WWII movies can suffer from. I sat down to watch one episode last night, and ended up watching four in a row- I'd have watched a fifth if my roommate hadn't warned me that it was a two-parter. I've had to borrow this series from a friend, but I suspect I'll be owning it in the near-future.

I've got the third season of Farscape waiting for me to watch. I'm afarid that when I settle down to watch this, it'll take up the bulk of a day too, only I'll have to get through 21 episodes instead fo just 10.

Farscape, for those of you who don't know, is a great series featuring a 20th century human who gets shot through a wormhole into another galaxy. It's probably the best science fiction series to air on TV since Babylon 5, and does a good job of showing viewers that you don't need to adhere to the pitiful model that Star Trek has forced sci-fi shows to become.

Last, but not least, I've got a few episodes of Cowboy Bebop to get through. Normally I dislike most Japanimation. I find that there is too much that is surreal- people who turn into Pandas when splashed with water, argue with smaller versions of themselves in their own orifices/appendages/both, or grow to the size of Mega-/Neo-/Mega-Neo-/Neo-Mega-Tokyo before exploding. I realise that this method of expressing fantasy elements is very different from the Western model of doing things, and I'm not saying it's bad, but I just dislike it. Modern-Fantasy is not my genre normally, and I find it seeps into Japanimation too often for me to enjoy it. The series that I do like is stuff like Robotech, Ghost in the Shell, BubbleGum Crisis, etc... When Japanimation chooses to ignore the humorous-supernatural, and sticks to science fiction, they do a good job of it.

Cowboy Bebop stands out because not only does it have the scifi stuff I like, but it's also funny. It's got elements thaT I should be hating (like an annoying 8 year old kid), but they handle it in a way that doesn't make me cringe. Their banter makes me laugh, and while it may not be as sharp as soem other shows, whoever translated Bebop gets Western humor enough to have captured it while keeping the elements that are cool about Japanimation. If you get the chance to view this, do it. Oh, and the soundtrack kicks ass.

Cowboy Bebop

2003-02-15T18:14:00.000-05:00

It's not infinity, but...

Oh, did I mention that I think Pi is one of the coolest numbers. There's something about infinity that cools me out.

2003-02-15T18:12:00.000-05:00

The Life of 3.141592

I just finished reading Life of Pi, by Montreal author Yann Martel. These days, positive acclaim for a book is too common. It seems inevitable that the first two pages of any given novel must be littered with short paragraphs of ppuffery attesting to the genius of the work that follows, so I'm de-sensitized to the claims that a book will change my way of thinking, make me re-examine the way I read literature, or make me change my religious beliefs, if I read these pages at all.

The idea of reading "Life of Pi" was sold to me by a friend of mine who probably had no idea he was pitching it to me at the time. He almost always has a book on him, and will read while out for a walk during the day, taking the bus, while out for a walk at night (the street lights are pretty good around his neighborhood), etc... so the fact that this was yet another book that he wasn't putting down was nothing exceptional. I asked him what this strange book with the hand-drawn tiger face was, and he told me it was about a boy who survives a shipwreck in a lifeboat with a tiger. It sounded interesting, so I asked if he'd lend it to me when he was done.

It was actually his wife who first picked up the book. She liked it so much, that she told him he had to read it just so she could talk to someone about it (kinda like the way 24 fans get people they know to start watching the series to discuss it with them). The two of them are a pair of book-junkies, so when I heard that they were so enthusiastic by it, I took that as as solid an endorsement that I should read it. I find it amusing how pages of praise from other peole you never heard of claiming a work is great is dismissed as irrelevant, yet a few words complimenting a writer via word of mouth is so much more effective. Perhaps if publishers realised that a good work of literature sells itself, the numerous pages that are wasted on hyperbole would be reduced.

At any rate, a blog is as close to published word of mouth as you can hope for, so here's my endorsement for you: Life of Pi is an excellent read, and an example of how books can tell a story that the movie they're talking about basing it on will never get the feel of. Life of Pi has a narrative quality that would not have justice done to it on film. A line in the story itself (that isn't puffery) tells you that this is a story that can make you believe in God (not it says "can", not will) and it definitely makes you think about it. But then again, what "triumph of the human spirit" doesn't?

2003-02-12T11:02:00.000-05:00

My brother's clever response to spam

My brother got one those spam emails that ask you to answer a bunch of lame questions and spam a bunch of people with info they don't neccesarily want to have. He responded to it in the sarcastic manner that seems to run through my siblings (and made it much more amusing than the usual gushiness that might have resulted).

*********************************************************************
Okay, here's what you're supposed to do. Copy (not forward) this e-mail and paste it onto a new e-mail that you will NEVER send.

Change all the answers so that they apply to you, then DO NOT send this to a whole bunch of people you know INCLUDING the person who sent it to you.

The theory is that you will learn a lot of little facts about your friends LIKE NOT TO SEND SPAM.

Remember NOT to send yours back to the person who sent it to you!

*********************************************************************

Ever been so drunk you blacked out: how would I remember?

Missed school because it was raining:
Canadians are not so weak. Not rain, snow, sleet or hail can stop us (unless you live in Toronto -- but's that's a Canadian in-joke...).

Ever acted sick not to go to school:
every day of my third grade. I think that's how I made it through high school as well.

Put a body part on fire for amusement:
yes, but it was someone else's.

Been hurt emotionally:
that's what the nice doctors in the white coats with the white, padded rooms keep telling me is wrong with me -- some kind of "e-mo-tion-al dam-age".

Kept a secret from everyone:
I am an international spy. Of course I have secrets. Some people actually think I work in special effects. Hah, hah, hah!

Had an imaginary friend:
I am actually dictating these answers and my imaginary kangaroo friend ("Penelope") is typing them for me. (Penelope has excellent spelling and types more quickly than I).

Wanted to hook up with a friend:
just one? Penelope the imaginary kangaroo has always looked more than a little tempting...

Had a crush on a teacher:
my kindergarten teacher knew I was prowling for her affections all the time. She probably still blushes at the thought of my raging 5 year old libido.

Ever thought an animated character was hot:
that's just weird. (Editor's note: my brother is an animator)

Had a New Kids on the Block tape:
If I ever did, I would never admit it. You could have me drawn and quartered by four large horses, then take those dismembered quarters and have them drawn and quartered by four pintos, then have those sixteenths drawn and quartered by four small frogs, and STILL I would never admit to ever owning a New Kids On The Block tape.

Been on stage:
all the world's a stage, and some people are merely stage hands. I like to think myself the as the villain of my own story.

Cut your own hair:
I shave daily. I always miss a spot right under my chin though -- it's the strangest thing.

------------------Favourites------------------

Soap:
the bold and the beautiful (although that one with the midget live doll and the witch is a blast -- Uncle Cyril always updates me on that one, and I have to say it's the best thing on TV). I also like Irish Spring.

Day/ Night:
I must admit these are recurring themes in my life. It's uncanny that you picked up on that (you're good!).

Colour:
I do see in colour. Most dogs (if not all) do not.

Lace or satin:
I like a little satin with a trim of lace. But that's a whole other story...

Fave cartoon/animated Characters:
My family are my favourite animate characters. ("Rubbeeesh! Boulesheet!")

Fave Food:
yes to all.

Fave Movie/s:
The emergency instructional video tapes shown on airplanes. These are highly undervalued art films. I could watch them over and over. I wonder if they sell them on DVD, with extra features like outtakes and real emergencies...

Fave Ice Cream:
yes.

Fave Subject:
Depends on the sentence (sometimes there is only one!).

Fave actor/s:
The unknown actors in the emergency instructional video tapes aired on airplanes. Those guys are really good (especially the ones who play the roles of the flight attendants).

-----------------RIGHT NOW------------------

Eating:
My best dish -- toast.

Drinking:
My masterful cup of coffee. it really is good.

Thinking about:
you'd be amazed to see the arid desert that is my mind's thoughts. The gerbil who runs on a treadmill that turns the turbine that powers my mind is a very lazy gerbil. I think of nothing (not unlike a Taoist master).

Listening to:
jazz. do you doubt it? This happens to be Max Roach's "Deeds not Words". It's outstanding. (I had missed this CD dearly, as it was one I left in Canada when I
went gallavanting abroad).

Talking 2:
my imaginary pet kangaroo. The nice doctors in the white coats are writin down everything I say...

-----THE LAST 24 HRS------------------

Cried:
Only when I realised there was no more peanut butter. But then I found my jar of vegemite, and the sun started to shine in my world once again.

Worn a skirt:
Picture me in a skirt. do you really want to see that? As a matter of fact, I have danced in front of four high schools (three of them were all-girls schools) dressed in drag, including a wig and a skirt (during my mad high school years, when I was part of a school committee that had to make presentations to other schools). It was a riot, and the bold move won me the affections of many imaginary kangaroos.

Cleaned your room:
as if my room ever needs cleaning. ;))

Done laundry:
48 hours ago.

Drove a car:
After stealing it and hotwiring it and then taking it for a joy ride. I couldn't get the CD player out, try as I might. Then I heard sirens approaching and found it wise to abandon the project for now.

---------DO YOU BELIEVE IN------------------

Your self:
I am undecided on this subject. I keep tripping over existential philosophy, which makes it difficult to embrace Richard Simmons' encouraging bumper sticker life philosophies.

Santa Claus:
I believe in him, but I suspect he's a communist.

Fairies:
I see them in certain parts of town, all the time. They like to wear tight leather pants and whistle at cute boys.

Destiny/Fate:
We have to believe in free will -- we have no choice. Having said that, I am witness to the fact that there is a sense of design to the universe.

Angels:
all my cousins are angels. ;)

Ghosts:
I suspect all ghosts want is to be loved. If we deny their existence then we fail to validate their need for unconditional love. I am going to say that I believe in ghosts and, furthermore, I think we should all make a concerted effort to find and hug one every day. That way fewer plates will get broken by unloved ghosts.

UFO's:
"Unidentified" by whom? I'm sure the aliens in the UFOs have "identified" their "flying objects", so that means the flying objects aren't REALLY "unidentified". It's kind of selfish of us to think that just cause NASA can't identify a flying object, that the object then becomes worthy of the "unidentified" classification (as if NASA were God or something!). If I throw a cream pie at your face from close range, you might not have time to realise what I'm throwing and you might then consider the pie to be an "unidientifed flying object". But since I know that it is a pie, we can agree that the object has in fact been identified (just not by you, yet). On that note, I believe in aliens and their
space ships, but I take issue with the unfortunate nomenclature we use in refering to their vehicles of transport. I think we should bring a little political correctness (and sensitivity) to our alien friends and their methods of travel. Otherwise, why would they EVER bring their tourist dollars here?

-----------------FRIENDS AND LIFE------------------

Do you have a boyfriend/girlfriend?
Only a small harem of them spread throughout the world.

Married/unmarried?
married many times under many different names.

Who have u known the longest of your friends?
Penelope, the imaginary kangaroo.

Who's the shyest:
Penelope the imaginary kangaroo. she only becomes visible when no one else is around (because she's so shy).

Who's the weirdest:
Penelope (but only because she's an imaginary kangaroo who only becomes visible when she's comfortable. In terms of her behaviour, she is very polite and correct.)

Who do you go to for advice:
Dear Abbey or Dear Anne Landers.

When do you cry the most:
When a psychotic serial killer is killing me slowly with a machette.

What's the best feeling in the world:
kissing an imaginary kangaroo on the wet nose.

Worst Feeling:
when you think you're about to kiss the kangaroo's nose, then you realise you missed completely because the kangaroo is invisible (which makes it hard to see the nose).

Who will respond to this email the fastest:
Kerrie will tell me I'm an idiot. She's so wrong. (Editor's Note: Kerrie is the cousin who sent him the email)

Who did you send this to who won't reply?:
everyone I sent it to by email will reply because I'm only sending it to Kerrie. The starving children in Africa who have no internet access will only receive it in several weeks though (I'm sending them a hard copy by snail mail, since they have no access to internet). most of them will not write back though.

Who sent this:
kerbear (Editor's note: Kerrie's nickname)

Do you want all your friends to do this and send it back:
I think the world would be a more productive place if we all took the time to send each other a little more loving spam every day. ;)

2003-02-10T13:56:00.000-05:00

I no longer need to imitate the good Doctor...

Thanks to this web site.

2003-02-06T09:26:00.000-05:00

It's true

George Bush and Dick Cheney are having a discussion when Jean Chrétien arrives.

"It looks like you're discussing a very serious topic."

"Yeah!" replies Bush. "We're gonna start us a Third World War!"

"Ah! You are where in your plan?" Chrétien asks.

"well, we're not done with the details, but the goal is to kill off 140 million Muslims and a single Information Technogy specialist."

Chrétien is surprised. "An IT specialist? Why you want to exterminate an IT specialist?"

Cheney looks smugly at Bush:

"It old you nobody will ask us about the 140 million Muslims."

2003-02-03T21:20:00.000-05:00

Public Speaking

One of the consultants at work asked me if I'd like to be a guest lecturer for the MBA class he teaches. They are covering a chapter on Information Technology, so I agreed. One of the weird things about IT is that the field is so new, and it's evolving so quickly, that degrees can't keep up with the pace that you need to measure your knowledge, thus a lot of people without formal degrees can hold some degree of authority on a subject.

The subject is not actually that technical. I was asked to water down my knowledge to give a general understanding of what a manager might be expected to know about Information technology. I'll be emphasizing the OSI (Open Standards Interchange) model, and hopefully I'll be able to keep the subject contained enough to make it interesting so they can relate what they've read to what they can expect to encounter in what passes for real life these days.

Strangely enough, I'm not that nervous about giving a talk to MBA students. I've explained these concepts to managers, CEOs, angry clients, not-so-angry-clients, etc... and I'm fairly comfortable with the subject matter. Miscellaneous Deity of Your Choice (if at all) knows I've been tested on it often enough as well. I'm also lucky that I don't worry so much about public speaking either. When I was in high school, we had to take Speech as a subject, so that helped us get over what is a common fear at a young age. Later on, as a high school senior, we couldn't memorise other writer's words: we had to write our own speeches and memorise them (which I actually found easier than memorising someone else's words). A few years later, in CEGEP, I took Public Speaking as one of my English classes, and did fairly well, and to someone who was comfortable speaking in front of a class, a pretty easy class, as we only had to give two speeches over the semester. It was challenging, yet fun. For our second speech, we would take pro and con positions on a topic and hold a debate. Our teacher challenged us to actually take a position against our beliefs to test ourselves on our ability to write and argue objectively.

It's proven to be an invaluable skill, and one I imagine I'll continue using. In a way, even a job interview is like public speaking. You may not be in front of a crowd, but you need to sound prepared and know what you're talking about.

I'm really looking forward to this talk.

2003-02-01T15:20:00.000-05:00

A shameless plug

I tried this software, called FreeRip to convert CD tracks into mp3s. It's very good so far. My advice, though is just leave everything set to the defaults. Plus, it's free.

2003-02-01T12:09:00.000-05:00

Some thoughts on gaming

As regular readers know, I'm in several games that occur on a semi-regualr basis. Occasionally, I get a "hat trick" of games, that is three games nights in a row; D&D on Wednesday, Legends of the Jade Princess on Thursday, and Star Wars on Friday. It looks like I'll be getting two hat tricks in a row; by fluke, all those games are scheduled for next week as well.

Believe it or not, for a few weeks, the perfection that is Remo (tm) was starting to get weary on me. I realised that Remo was boring to play when Arnak, the Dwarf of our party, asked us what we wanted, and my answer was (in short) to attain perfection through medidation. While this is good for an NPC, it's pretty boring for a PC. I guess, having a history of GMing more than playing, I occasionally design PCs that make better NPCs. I even pondered the unthinkable thought of retiring Remo (which would probably result in a lot less for me to blog about; he does show up on this page a lot, doesn't he?). Fortunately, I came up with a solution that kept him true to his concept, while giving him more opportunity to interact with the rest of the group by playing up his arrogance.

Remo, originally, was very Zen. I played him as a monk who valued all life and belief as equal. He was of the opinion that Orcs and other traditional villainous races could be reasoned with, given time to overcome those differences and the extension of the hand of friendship. While this attitude may work in Star Trek TNG, it really has no place in a game where the Orc armies are ammassing and going to invade, especially when Remo has a 10 Charisma and a diplomacy skill of 0.

So I decided to focus on his role as a teacher. Remo is so enlightened, he feels perfectly justified in pointing out how unenlightened everyone else is. It made sense because I always spoke about him with mock arrogance outside the game (and on this blog), but played him very humbly in the game. I also changed his alignment from Lawful Good to Lawful Neutral, which will be intersting, since I believe in my philosophy more than in the greater good.

The change was very successful. I went with the Dwarf to the local tavern and used my immunity to poison to outdrink him, in hopes of teaching him the folly of excessive drinking. It worked, but not in the way that I hoped: Arnak picked a fight with a group of mercendary fighters and we got ambushed by a platoon of them in what was supposed to be a duel between two individuals with no interference. But this is just a Sun Fi Toe wrote: even the teacher must keep learning.

Arnak was able to kill his opponent, even while massively drunk, and I gave an unsportsmanlike archer a thrashing that he wouldn't forget, excpet that it was mostly his head that I thrashed, before the city guard showed up and encouraged them to stop attacking us- it was a good thing because we were outclassed. But my lesson did have an effect: The experience from Arnak's kill, without having to be divided with the other PCs, got him to 12th level!

The player characters, when they saw Arnak return with the shit kicked out of hm were furious, and they were none-to-pleased with me, since I had been tasked to keep him out of trouble. But the players were amused and everyone seems to be enthusiastic about interacting with the new Remo.

There is sometimes a certain joy in playing a charcter who is knowingly flawed (not that Remo is flawed- what others perceive as arrogance is an unwillingness to examine their own philosophies and follow Remo's enlightened manner). Arnak's player (also a guy named Eric- there's three of them in our D&D group, so yes, we use PC names a lot more now) knew he was going to get the shit kicked out of him if he got into a fight with these guys, yet he did it anyways. There's a certain enjoyment one gets from immersing onself in the vices we're supposed to evercome in real life while gaming. Even overcoming those vices gradually in the game can be a lot of fun.

I was looking back over my list of PCs over the years, and it occurs to me that very few of them have signifigant character flaws. They're all pretty cool, but there's never anything personal for them to overcome- challenges for them come from their opposition. Perhaps I'll be more open to disadvantages in the future.

2003-01-30T13:38:00.000-05:00

Gaze upon the Perfection that is Remo!

Eric found this image on the official Wizards of the Coast. What can I say? Remo sets the trend for the monk look.

2003-01-24T14:26:00.000-05:00

What is the Quality of a Jedi

Then again, Remo is too much of a prick to be a Jedi Master, isn't he?

Wait, the Jedi in Episode I and II are pricks...

2003-01-24T11:00:00.000-05:00

Yo-ho-ho and a bottle of rum, acros the genres

Some of my friends are putting together an online comic based on some of their RPG characters. I've always enjoyed transplanting characters from one universe to another- some of my most successful games have characters originally made for other games (my Star Wars game consists of a huge number of characters who were originally D&D characters- the skills one uses in booting orc head can easily be transplanted to kicking stormtrooper butt; Hmmm(n)...The Perfection that is Remo (tm) would make a grand Jedi Master, wouldn't he? Moo-hawhaw!). I suppose in some ways it's easier to get into a character since the concept already exists, and its just taking someone who is predefined and having them react to new stimuli. And it's not too hard to take an alien with superhuman reflexes, nightvision, and forcefield power armor armed with a chainsword and stormbolter and turn him into a elven warrior with a magic chainmail, a +3 vorpalblade and a crossbow of rapid-shooting.

2003-01-18T12:05:00.000-05:00

What an honor...

It's kind of cool to know that I share a birthday with the likes of Jim Hensen and Phil Hartman, and F. Scott Fitzgerald, all of them entertainers that have influenced me and whom I look up to.

I'm trying not to think about the fact that they're all dead... I mean, Stella Banderas was born on my birthday too, and she's still alive too, right? She'll be seven this year!

Then again, I have no clue who Stella Banderas is...

2003-01-18T11:46:00.000-05:00

And she sings too!

Not only is Gwyneth Paltrow gorgeous, and a great actress, she can sing too. I haven't seen Duets, but I came across an mp3 of her singing "Bette Davis Eyes", and she's really good.

The only think I don't get is why his Bradness is with Jennifer Anniston instead. I guess Gwyneth must have been the one to end it.

2003-01-18T11:34:00.000-05:00

Momentum

I ran Star Wars last night. It was a great session, though unfortunately half my players didn't do anything. But the half that did do stuff did a lot. Strangely enough, the players who didn't do much seemed to have a good time; I guess it's a good sign when players are entertained watching other players do stuff that doesn't directly involve them.

After the session, Taras mentioned that he finds that a weekly game has so much more momentum than one that is run every two or three weeks. The semi-weekly games are easier on schedules that increasingly have to incorporate real life, but the weekly games are fresh in everyone's memory every week, so it's easier to build on plots. Ah well, at this point, every two weeks is the best everyone can do, myself included, and I'll gladly take it.

2003-01-18T11:19:00.000-05:00

Yes, we are geeks

So Simon- my boss/co-D&D player, and I are in the Courts de Mont Royal when he spots a shirt sale. We decide to have a look, intending only to buy a shirt or two each. We walk out with two shirts each, a suit, and I've got an extra pair of slacks as well. Simon tells me "I think the sales guy rolled a 20 on his diplomacy check."

I just hope it was diplomacy he was rolling and not bluff!

I was going to buy a new suit in the spring, so this just saves me the trip.

2003-01-13T19:51:00.000-05:00

Leadership and the Captains of Star Trek

It occured to me, after a discussion anout management and leadership styles with several friends, that the Star Trek Captains make good templates for the types of leaders one comes across.

The ideal leader is Picard. He consults his subordinates, gets feedback, and determines the best course of action using their knowledge and his management experience. He knows when to delegate, and makes a point of letting the best people at the job do their job. He is also very loyal to those subordinates, and makes sure they advance accordingly (Geordi and Worf started out as junior lieutenants at the start of the the series, and are now lieutenant commanders; every crew member with the exception of Doctor Crusher has been promoted while under Picard's command), acting as a mentor. In return, he is able to inspire loyalty and gets his team to perform better. His very prescence inspires them to achieve more than they would if they were not acting under his leadership.

There are some leaders who build a personal empire around themselves, like Kirk. They find good people and get results worthy of building a legend. Unfortunately, they cannot delegate, and when they finally leave an organization, the organization cannot duplicate his success. Kirk refuses to let anyone do anything critical without him sticking his nose into it. He's constantly checking up on Mr Scott (Mr Scott develops his habit of doubling his time estimates to get Kirk off his back), insists on beaming down to the planet, etc... This type of leader works in the short term, but in the long term, does more damage than good to an organization.

Sisko is the average leader- he makes mistakes, but he makes a lot of good calls. He's sometimes a little too hands on, but he's smart enough to know when he's got a good team under him, even if he's not responsible for molding them into that good team. He also protects his people and has what it takes to inspire loyalty. He makes sure his people get promoted when it's due (all of DS:9 got promoted in the fourth season, though they all got promoted at the same time; it sort of has a rubber stamp feel to it, but I guess salary review comes at a certain time in Star Fleet).

Janeway is a good archetype of an incompetant leader. She is inconsistent in her policies, arbitrary in taking advice, and displays blatant favoristism. She makes no attempt to hide the nepotism that she uses in assigning responsibilities (promoting the "criminals" Paris and Torres to Lt jg, while ignoring Ensign Kim repeatedly despite his valedictorian status when he graduated friom Starfleet, and his position as bridge ops) . In the seven years of the trip from the Delta Quadrant, she has only promoted Paris and her dear old friend Tuvok (how convenient). It is unfortunate that she is a woman, because as representative of the female gender as a leader, she gives the impression that she got her position not through ability but through politics, providing ammunition for the small minded peopel who would want to dismiss the ability of women to lead. Even her character's personality was determined by the desire to make her different from the previous Captains before her. Unfortunately, since all the prior Captains were competant to some degree, the writers of Voyager were only able to use their limited skills to make her incompetant.

I haven't watched much Enterprise, but I get the impression that Archer is a blander version of Sisko. Feel free to correct me if I'm wrong.

2003-01-13T19:32:00.000-05:00

Movies suck

Sadly, nothing out in theatres seems to grab my attention. Until X-Men 2 comes out, I suspect that I'll be steering clear of the movie theatres.

I did see Bowling for Columbine last month; overall, a very good film. The Two Towers didn't disappoint me either, though I liked The Fellowship of the Ring more.

Perhaps my synapses will fail utterly and I'll waste my time and energy checking out Star Trek: Nemesis. Or I could just surmise what the lame plot is, based on what I've heard and gleaned from the trailer.

cut to dream sequence

***Possible Spoilers, ignoring the fact that the movie is spoiled by the fact that it probably sucks***

Visualise Star Trek Nemesis title sequence.

The Reamin's, a bunch of cyberpunk Romulans, led by a clone of Picard, identical to him in every way, except one-eighth his size, kill the Romulan Senate and take over their government. The Romulans have no backup plan, despite years of hostilities with the Federation and Klingons (and Dominion), so the Reamin's plan (basically go in and kill everybody, a plan the Federation should have thought of back when Kirk and crew had the balls to commit such heinous acts) works, and Mini-Picard somehow gets himself put in charge (ignoring the fact thath he's not a Reamin' - I'm glad that the Reamin's are so open-minded to have a non-member of their species lead them.

Cut to Enterprise crew happy and celebrating- they are always happy and joyful at the start of a Star Trek movie- since that is the ideal time for life-changing events of happiness and joy to occur. Riker is now a Captain, and he is married to Ensign Cleavage (aka Counsellor Troi). They are on their way to the second part of a ceremony- the ceremony has two parts solely so Riker and Troi can be married, yet not married- this is great for plot angst later on. The marriage also gives them a reason to have Worf around since he would have been invited, and they know they migth not get away with the lack of excuse like they did in "Stink's Correction."

Once again, the Enterprise is the only ship in the sector when they are called to meet the Reamin's for their peace envoy. The Enterprise is told that real peace is now possible with the Romulans- never mind the fact that the Romulans were allied with the Federation against the Dominion- this time the overture of peace is genuine and will last! You have to trust them! This is the last movie.

The Enterprise finds out that the leader of the Reamin's is Mini-Picard who is mad at Picard since evil clones bear that kind of grudge. Riker and Data cheer, since Picard can now join the "Enterprise command crew who have evil or misguided duplicates" club. Data also points out that the probable reason for the clone's existence points to an early 21st centruy movie called Attack of the Clones, which is said to have been a huige marketing force. This inspired the Romulans to work it into this plot.

Another android clone shows up. It is Not-Lore. The odds of two clones/duplicates showing up are exactly 3725 to 1, though R2 has been known to make mistakes... from time to time.

Mini-Picard takes his Wrath of Khan pills and goes apeshit. This leads to the conclusions that all duplicates must be killed. Data decides to deactivate his duplicate.

Mini-Picard shows that he knows his early Star Trek film history with a ship that can fire while cloaked, just like Generations.

The Enterprise crew still kill the cloaked ship, because they are that good. Picard gets a word in how he's so much better than his clone, 'cause he's the Picard, man!

I don't know what they do with Not-Lore, and I don't care.

The Romulans use the purge of the Senate and the death of the Reamin' usurpers to hold democratic elections, under the "protective" eye of the Federation. The Romulans are now free and petition to join the Federation. Wow!

end dream sequence

Hmmm. I'm pretty sure I'm accurate. If I am, I won't even be seeing this pap on DVD...

2003-01-13T19:01:00.000-05:00

A Fire Upon the not so deep...

I was supposed to read Vernor Vinge's A Fire Upon the Deep for my bookclub, but I haven't had time over the holidays. It didn't help that I had a hard time finding the book. At any rate, I suspect I'll end up attending the bookclub meet, but just observing instead fo commenting.

Or I may skip it alltogether to watch 24. I have to see how Jack gets out of this one...

2003-01-11T15:54:00.000-05:00

Movie Quote of the Month

'A small price to pay for putting foot to ass for my country'.
-Samuel Jackson as Augustus Gibbon in 'Tripple X', referring to scar that covers half his face:

2003-01-10T14:27:00.000-05:00

Yeah-Yeah! I know...

Yes, it has been a while since I updated my site. I'm not dead, just busy. I'll start posting again this weekend sometime.

I guess I can post some stuff, in brief:

As far as games go, I'm still running Star Wars and D&D. Star Wars is tonight. Captain Rook will try and outfly an entire TIE fighter Wing (to say nothing of the Star Destroyer if he gets through them). May the Force be With Him (of course it will- he's Taras!). I'm still playing in the Legends of the Jade Princess (though not orphen enough!!!) and in Eric's D&D game.

Speaking of Taras, he has some writing online, that I'll be linking to soon. My particular favorite is the espionage serial he's working on. I'll link to it after he puts some finishing touches on his site over the next week.

One of the reasons I'm so busy these days is that I've started seeing someone (if you're curious, and want to know who she is, check out the Anredi link in the sidebar- this should be a good way to know who's still checking out my pages- hehheh...)

My brother's back from Australia. I think he's toying with the idea of going to Europe, but I also suspect that after a year of being away from Montreal, that he wants to stick around and re-establish some roots. If anyone knows of any interesting computer animation jobs (ideally in Montreal, but my brother has already demonstrated a willingness to travel), let me know.

Back to gaming: I just played the perfection that is Remo in D&D again last Wednesday, but I find that while I love Remo as a character, he's somewhat limited as a PC. I realised this when the dwarf fighter in our party, Arnak, in an uncharacteristic moment of generosity, offered to give something out to each person in the party. When Arnak asked Remo "What do you want?", my answer was somethnig to the effect of "to find enlightenment, attain a state of grace and to reach the horizon of wisdom as I walk down the path towards eternal harmony. Aside from that, I desire nothing, knowing that physical desire is a fleeting and momentary thing". It's a fun answer for an NPC, but it limits PC interaction. Remo spends all his time alternating between booting some head and medidating. no one else in the party seems intent on learning kung fu, so there's not much expcuse for Remo to interact with them. I may eventually switch to another charcater (I suspect that I may opt for an Elven ranger- maybe I'll have an ork killing contest with Arnak!).

Another couple I know had a baby- Eric (not the guy I game with) and Nadia gave birth to Sebastien, a handsome little boy weighing in at 9lbs or so. I haven't seen him in the flesh yet, but look forward to doing so.

Aside from that, I have to start updating this blog again before it rots. Please tune in regularly.

2002-12-13T19:45:00.000-05:00

But is it art?

A friend of mine went to art school with this guy many moons ago. It's some impressive work. He apparently works for Pixar these days.

2002-12-12T18:02:00.000-05:00

Finally... an upcoming movie that fails to suck

Keen!

2002-12-12T17:03:00.000-05:00

"Journalism"

It is my opinion that gossip, rumor-mongering, and tattling do not constitute journalism. It's really a shame that my opinion differs from that of the media. Frankly, I'm getting a little tired of casual remarks being blown out of proportion to generate headlines. Whether it's the private comments of a politician's assistant or a senate member's congratulations during a birthday celebration, it seems like everything said is taken in the worst possible way to generate headlines. The worst thing is that these comments don't even get confirmed anymore.

Of course, to blame the media is not entirely fair. They are catering to the masses, who seem to only respond to gossip, rumor-mongering, and tattling. In the meantime, I look forward to the day that the National Enquirer is more respectable than CNN.

Then again, maybe that day is already hear. The Enquirer makes no pretenses about what it is...

MLG

2002-12-07T00:11:00.000-05:00

Star Wars Episode I
revised

A few years ago, I wrote a condensed, yet revised version of Episode I that would have been marketable (pod race, lightsaber battle, cgi character, yet with what I believe is a good story. Unfortunately, it's lost in email limbo. After Episode II, came out, I felt the need to write a non-"Yo-da-Man!" version. So, I'll be posting both those versions.

Here, for your reading is an attempt to recreate Episode I. This is a version that has been further revised; please enjoy. Episode II will hit this blog shortly.

********

Opening credits are pretty much the same: Trade Federation is blockading Naboo, the Republic Council has dispatched two Jedi to investigate: Qui-Gon Jin, a Gungan Jedi master, vioiced by Liam Neeson, and Obi-Wan Kenobi, a Jedi Knight who has just graduated from Padawan status recently.

The initial ambush sequence is pretty similar. The two Jedi sneak down to the planet where they see a droid army assembling. Qui-Gon says that this is the far side of the planet, and that they will have to contact his people, the Gungans, to get to the Naboo city in time.

********

The Trade Federation contact Darth Sidious to tell them that the Jedi have gotten away. Sidious informs the Nemoidians that he will dispatch his apprentice, Darth Maul to hunt down the Jedi. The Nemoidians are less than thrilled to hear this.

********

The Jedi go underwater, with Obi-Wan using a rebreather. When they get to the domed city, much to Obi-Wan's surprise, Qui-Gon is arrested after identifying himself. Obi-Wan impulsively moves to defend his master, but Qui-Gon bids him to stop. He knew this would happen. He goes on to explain that many years ago, Qui-Gon's parents were exiled from the Gungan city, under the penalty of death should they, or any of their progeny return. Qui-Gon then asks for an audience with the Council of Bosses, as his his right. The two Jedi are brought to Boss Nass and his council, where Qui-Gon makes his case: the Naboo are in danger from a droid army. Boss Nass counters that this is a surface problem, but Qui-Gon points out that the Gungans will be targeted next once the Trade Federation is through with them. Boss Nass says that he will take the warnings under consideration, but that Qui-Gon is to
remain in custody until as decision has been made, and if it is found that the Gungans are not in danger, Qui-Gon will be put to death.

Qui-Gon points out that Obi-Wan has done no wrong, and requests that he be transported to the Naboo city so that the surface worlders can be warned. After Qui-Gon offers his word as a Jedi that he will comply with whatever fate the Gungans decide for him, Boss Nass agrees. Obi-Wan protests to Qui-Gon, but the Jedi Master points out to Obi-Wan that his fate lies along a different path than him. The fate of Naboo lies in his hands, so he must warn them. Reluctantly, Obi-Wan departs.

The transport that Obi-Wan is given is not the best one available. It is a beat-up old submarine, skippered by a less-than-inspiring pilot named Jar-Jar Binks. Obi-Wan is not impressed, but Jar-Jar, seemingly oblivious to Obi-Wan's scorn, seems confident that he can get by the droid blockades.

********

Meanwhile, communications are cut off between the Naboo capital city and the outside world. Droid tanks begin to roll and occupy the relatively undefended city.

********

Jar-Jar shows that he might be able to back up those claims when he avoids a fairly large underwater creature's maw in the deep-sea tunnels of the planet's core.

As the sub approaches the city, a droid sentry ship catches the sub by surprise as it surfaces. Obi-Wan, alerted through the Force, tells Jar-Jar to veer back out to sea. There is a brief chase as the sentry calls down a few more sentries and they begin to strafe the sub, diving in after it as Jar Jar quickly submerges again into the
coral tunnels. Most of the sentry ships prove themselves to not be up to the challenge of keeping up, and they smash against tunnel walls. Jar-Jar is surviving mostly because Obi-Wan is guiding him and directing him when to turn. Obi-Wan's senses guide him well as the sole surviving droid ship is eaten by a giant animal. There is a moment of tension as the animal turns its attention towards the sub as desert, but Obi-Wan uses a Jedi mind trick to render the ship invisible. As Obi-Wan brags about a large animal with a small brain, the animal unknowlingly knocks the sub with its tail as it swims away, sending the vessel careening to the surface. It emerges with a gaping hole in its hull, and with its systems down. Jar-Jar insists on grabbing a backpack of supplies, and the two
of them start swimming to the capital city on the coast in the horizon.

********

The Nemoidians have finished their occupation of Naboo. Queen Amidala is presented for a formal surrender, but she remains defiant. The Nemoidians assure her that they will get a signature.

********

That night, Obi-Wan and Jar-Jar arrive on the coast. Obi-Wan tells Jar-Jar that he doesn't have to come along, but Jar-Jar says that he has no way to get back, so he may as well come, if only to get a ship and return to the Gungan cities. With Obi-Wan's senses to guide them, they are able to sneak past the droid sentries to where they see Queen Amidala and her entourage of attendants being escorted to a holding cell. After a misunderstanding between Obi-Wan and Jar-Jar about what constitutes low profile, the duo engage the droids that are guarding Amidala. Obi-Wan easily mops up the droids, with Jar-Jar's help. Obi-Wan informs Amidala that he needs to get her off the planet to present herself to the Senate and confirm the invasion by the Trade Federation. She points out that the royal yacht is not far off.

Obi-Wan gets to the ship, quickly frees the pilots held near it, and gets the princess on board. Jar Jar gets into a starfighter, vows to tell the Gungans about the invasion, and the two ships take off.

As the royal yacht hits space, it comes under fire from the battleships manning the blockade. Muttering how much he hates space-combat, Obi-Wan runs into the cockpit, and is stunned to see a rookie at the helm. Exclaiming his surprise, he moves to take over the controls, as the ship comes under another volley. Before Obi-Wan can do anything, the rookie weaves the ship between blasts, narrowly avoiding them.

Obi-Wan nods nervously showing his approval, and looks towards the Captain, who reassures him that despite his lack of years, Lt. Skywalker is the best pilot in the fleet. Skywalker is too focused to react to the Captain's comments.

Skywalker brings the craft up further, as the barrage intensifies. Shields start to flicker, and one goes down. A group of R2 units is dispatched to conduct repairs. As the shots continue, they are all blown off except for a blue one named R2-D2 who bravely holds his position, keeping the shields up as the yacht runs the blockade and makes its way into Hyperspace.

Obi-Wan says tells the "rookie" that he pulled off some good flying, and apoloigses for his initial comment. Skywalker tells him not to worry about it, grins, and tells Obi-Wan that he can call him Anakin. They shake hands.

********

Anakin shows that he's quite a mechanic as well as a pilot. He tells Obi-Wan that the ship is discovered to only be capable of making a short jump after suffering damage. Obi-Wan suggests Tattooine, despite the fact that it's Hutt controlled. He tells them that he knows some people here, and because it's non-Republic, that it's a good place to hide.

********

Darth Maul has arrived at Naboo. He hasn't even bothered to land on the planet after finding out that the royal yacht escaped. He makes his way to the flagship and is greeted by the fleet commander, who apologises profusely. Maul thrusts his lightsaber point first into the commander's chest, allowing it to protrude a few feet through his back, before he angles the blade down, letting the body slide off it. He turns to the next Nemoidian in the chain of command and says to him that "It is clear this blockade serves no purpose. The planet is under control. Leave one ship here to supervise the ground troops, and send the others out to neighboring Republic Worlds, to look for the Queen." As Maul turns to board his ship again, the newly promoted Nemoidian asks him where
he will be. Maul replies that he will be looking on non-Republic worlds...

********

On Tattooine, Obi-Wan briefs Amidala about his plan to acquire parts on the planet. He will bring Anakin and R2 with him to checkout engine parts. Amidala approves but suggests that one of her maidens, Padme, accompany them. Anakin respectfully objects, saying that there will be danger, but Amidala insists, saying that her maidens can deal with any threat, and she insists on sending a representative if the Royal pursestrings are used to pay for said parts. As the four of them leave, Obi-Wan shrugs and tells Anakin to be glad that the Queen didn't insist on coming herself.

********

Obi-Wan says that they'll head out to Mos Eisley. Padme mentions that Obi-Wan seems familiar with the planet. Obi-Wan mentions that he is; he did some of his trining here while training to become a Jedi. Padme seems fascinated, and asks what the Jedi training is like. Obi-Wan says that it's very hard, but once you learn to use the Force, it becomes considerably easier. The training is designed to push your skills to the edge. Anakin asks if they train you to fly. Obi-Wan replies that they do, but he winks at them, saying that he's already said too much- the training is supposed to be secret.

As they continue marching, Anakin is constantly watching over Padme. She is slowly becoming irritated at his protective attitude. When she snaps at him, he replies that if he doesn't get her back in one piece, his head will be served on a platter. Amidala replies that maybe she'll look to pick up a few scrapes and bruises just to spite him. Anakin fails to retort effectively.

They get to Mos Eisley as the first sun begins setting and look for a parts dealer. The first dealer they meet with, a Toydarian named Watto, tells them that he may have a part. When Obi-Wan offers a price in New Republic credits, Watto refuses, saying that they're no good to him here; he floats away. Anakin stands there, stunned. He asks why Obi-Wan doesn't just use a mind-trick on the Toydarian? Obi-Wan shrugs and says that it would amount to theft, and that's not what the Force is about. Obi-Wan suggests they find a place for the night before continuing their search tomorrow.

********

A menacing starcraft enters the Tattooine atmosphere, landing on the portion of the planet immersed in shadow. A figure draped in a black cloak emerges from the vessel, accompanied by three floating, spherical probe-droids. Darth Maul dispatches them, before returning to his vessel.

********

Morning. Padme is looking at another item. Anakin tells Obi-Wan that the city seems crowded for such a backwater planet. Obi-Wan replies that the Boonta Eve pod races are on, and that people have come from all over to watch them. Anakin nods, and says he tried pod racing once. Obi-Wan raisies an eyebrow, saying that humans normally don't have the reflexes for it. Anakin doesn't comment; he frowns as his attention is drawn elsewhere.

A local merchant starts a salespitch towards Padme, who seems amused, if not interested in the wares, when Anakin comes along and shoos the merchant away. Padme glares at him and storms off with R2-D2 following in the distance. Obi-Wan comes up to Anakin, who keeps a watchful eye on the maiden fro a short distance. Obi-Wan grins and says that over-protectiveness will not win her over. Anakin reacts with a hint of surprise, before recomposing himself. Obi-Wan smiles and says it'd be clear to him how Anakin felt about Padme, even if he didn't have the Force to confirm it. Anakin hesitates, before nodding and admitting that Obi-Wan is correct. He fell for Padme the first time the queen's entourage stepped foot on the yacht, but he says that it'll never happen: Royal Maidens are untouchable. Besides, he's just a pilot. Obi-Wan counters that Anakin isn't just a pilot; he's an exceptional pilot, and that the Force has a strange way of making things happen.

As Obi-Wan tells him this, Anakin stops- alerted to something else. "Danger", he says. Obi-Wan reacts with a pause, and nods before confirming: "You're right, but how-"

Obi-Wan's realisation that Anakin is Force-sensitive is cut off by the swift arrival of a black-clad Sith warrior on a compact speeder bike. As the vehicle continues overhead, Darth Maul leaps off of it, landing in a spot that the crowd has cleared as they react to the bike. Maul is standing across from Padme, who has yet to react. Maul raises his lightsaber to cleave her when Anakin, standing farther down behind her, screams out "NOOOO!". He instinctively draws on Force Powers he didn't know he had to push Maul twenty yards away from her. Maul reacts to the Force push expertly landing on his feet, but by then, Obi-Wan has drwan his lightsabre and moved to engage the Sith Lord. He commands Anakin to get Padme out of here. Anakin grabs Padme by the shoulder and for once, she doesn't protest.

As Obi-Wan goes toe-to-toe with Maul, it quickly becomes clear that Maul is the superior swordsman. Obi-Wan is forced to continuouly give up ground. The duel is a continuous motion to lightsabers and background as Maul takes to the roofs of Mos Eisley to intercept Anakin and Padme. Obi-Wan does his best to interfere, but Maul is regularly able to cause Obi-Wan to lose his footing, forcing him to leap back up to engage.

Anakin and Padme make their way to some of the tents used by the pod racers.

Obi-Wan and Maul continue to duke it out. Maul maneuvers Obi-Wan to a building ledge, looks out and sees the Podracing tents in the distance. He turns back to Obi-Wan, and knocks him hard. Obi-Wan goes unconscious as he lands on the ground. Fortunately for the young Jedi, as we focus on his unconscious head, we see a trio of white droid legs roll up to him.

********

Watto, the junk dealer, is bragging about the pod that will be raced. He is coaching his driver, a bizarre alien, when Anakin and Padme dash towards them. There is a commotion near the entrance of the tent- the crowd is being massacred as Darth Maul is making his way through it. Anakin jumps into the pod, and tells Padme to follow him. She hesitates, looks towards Maul, who chops a bouncer-type alien in two, and decides that maybe the pod racer will give her better odds than the Sith Lord. The pod racer starts up and is guided out by Anakin, and merges into the race, which is just starting.

********

Maul dashes to the edge of the tent, sees the racers go off and presses some buttons on his wristband. Overhead, his speeder dips down towards him.

********

Anakin can drive the pod, but just barely. The other racers are cursing him and shaking their fists as he struggles with the controls. One of them tries to bat him out of the way.

Padme questions Anakins ability to drive the pod. Anakin replies that it works better without the commentary.

The opposing driver looks like he's going to cause Anakin some grief when a trio of laser bolts cuts into his engines. The driver skeeters out of control as his engines explode. Anakin and Padme look back- Maul is racing to catch up and has no compunctures about using the lasers mounted on his bike. Padme, fortunately has no compunctures about returning fire with her blaster pistol.

Beggar's Canyon is coming up and Anakin weaves between other podracers to avoid Maul's blaster shots. The obstacles are insane, the casualties are ferocious, and Jabba the Hutt, over seeing the race, is amused to no end by the extra carnage.

When the pod comes out of the first stretch of Beggar's Canyon, Maul's shots come a lot closer. Anakin decides to bring the pod back into Beggar's canyon for the return run. Padme questions this decision, but Anakin points out that the canyon will treat the pod better than Maul will.

This time, Anakin takes a secondary route in the canyon. This route weaves far more furiously than before and is delivering a sound beating to the racer. Maul catches up in his maneuverable craft, but Padme scores a lucky hit, taking out the bike. Maul lands hard, and is left facedown in a cloud of dust by the pod as it escapes to the finish line. The pod starts to fall apart, but Anakin manages to pull it ahead of the other racers and gun it across the finish line. It's repulsors fail as it pulls back into the tent. Watto freaks out. Anakin and Padme nervously look back, as the crowd rushes them to declare them the winner of the race. Watto protests, saying that it's his pod, but Jabba laughs, pointing out that the racer is an independant, and that he gets the prize money.

Obi-Wan appears and asks them if they're okay. Anakin confirms that they are, but that the assassin may still be about. Obi-Wan tells Watto that they'll sign over their winnings to him if he gives them the engine parts. Watto agrees.

********

Obi-Wan requests that the yacht come and pick them up. Anakin installs the parts, and they leave immediately for Coruscant.

********

The political part is largely unchanged. Palpatine maneuvers things to get a non-confidence vote called by Amidala, and sets himself up as President. Chancellor Palpatine authorises a fleet of Republic dreadnaughts to accompany Amidala's entourage and return her to power against the forces of corruption.

The Jedi Council is concerned when Obi-Wan reports in about Qui-Gon's situation, but feel confident in his decision to stay with the Gungans. They cannot offer more help since they are stretched thin already, but they decide to send Obi-Wan back to Naboo with Amidala and the Republic fleet to assist. Obi-Wan tells them about the black-clad warrior, causing the Council to wonder if it could be a Sith. They urge caution.

Afterwards, Obi-Wan meets with Yoda, his master, to tell him about Anakin. With the Jedi's numbers so low, it might be a good idea to recruit him. Yoda warns that Anakin is too old for the training and that his mind may have already developed beliefs contrary to the Jedi philosophy and the light side of the Force. Obi-Wan counters with a comment about the power that Anakin seems to command. Yoda warns that power is not all that it seems. He will take it under advisement.

********

The Republic Fleet jumps into Naboo space. The fleet admiral orders the Trade Federation ship to stand down. It does so. Republic shuttles are ordered to bring down marines to liberate the city and escort Amidala.

Suddenly, the dispersed Trade Federation fleet reappears, catching the Republic fleet off guard- it is an ambush! Anakin takes to space in a Naboo fighter with R2-D2. A massive space battle erupts.

********

On the surface of the planet, the marines escorting Amidala are caught in a droid ambush. Obi-Wan assists in protecting them, laying waste to numerous droids in the process, but one shot gets through, looking as if it will hit Padme. Amidala pushes her out of the way and takes the shot instead going down in the process. Padme rushes to her. Amidala apologises for falling in the line of duty, calling Padme "your Highness" in the process, then bids the other handmaidens to get the Queen out of danger. Padme tearfully thanks Amidala and assures her that she will be remembered as Amidala closes her eyes.

********

In space, it is becoming apparent that the Trade Federation fleet has more firepower than the Republic fleet. There is speculation whether the fleet can cover the forces on the ground, who also seem outnumbered. Anakin continues to rack up kills in his starfighter.

********

As things are looking bad for the Republic marines, a line of Gungans comes over the crest of a nearby hill, outflanking the droid lines. They charge, led by Qui-Gon Jin, Boss Nass and Jar-Jar Binks.

Qui-Gon maneuvers quickly through the battle, rendezvousing with Obi-Wan and Queen Padme. Padme decides to make a break for the command palace. The Jedi lead the way as they clear a path for a group of marines. As they reach the courtyard, a figure in black steps out. Maul seems to have survived his crash in Tattooine. Obi-Wan wonces and tells Qui-Gon that he meant to tell him about the Sith Lord, but he didn't have a chance. Qui-Gon nods and says they'll compare notes when they're done. A lightsaber battle commences as the Jedi cover the Queen and her Marine escort inot the palace. Qui-Gon is a better swordsman than Obi-Wan and the table is quickly turned from Tattooine's lightsaber battle as Maul is now on the defensive. However, after giving up to much ground in the first part of the battle, Maul reveals his trump card: a second blade that allows him to deflect attacks from both sides as the Jedi attempt to flank him.

********

The Gungans have given the Marines a second chance, but the droids appear to have regrouped and are counter-attacking. Despite the Gungans' numbers, their weapons are relatively primitive, and they are slowly retreating.

********

Another Republic vessel explodes, nearly catching Anakin in its debris, as the Federation fleet moves in- the Republic flagship.

********

Obi-Wan's attention is brought away from the lightsaber battle momentarily by the sight of an explosion in space and the sense of danger he just got from Anakin. That moment of distraction costs him dearly, as Maul exploits the opening and stabs Obi-Wan through the stomach. Obi-Wan drops clutching his gut. Qui-Gon continues fighting- not reacting with any emotion- he is a Jedi master after all.

********

In space Anakin observes the flagship breaking apart. He looks at the Federation command vessel and veers between a pair of droid fighters, shooting one down in the process.

********

Obi-Wan struggles to remain conscious- focusing on the Force. He reaches out to Anakin with his mind, seeing the battle through Anakin's eyes.

********

Qui-Gon Jin presses force his attack, chopping Maul's blade at the hilt, reducing the Sith Lord's weapon to one blade.

********

Padme's Marine escort is caught in a crossfire; they are pinned down and cannot advance. In the distance, the Gungans have stopped retreating as Boss Nass declares that they will hold the line here and fight to the end.

********

Anakin hears Obi-Wan's voice in his mind, telling him to listen to his instincts and use the Force. Anakin nods, veers sharply and heads on an attack vector against the command carrier, dodging laser flak and enemy fighters. With several enemy on his tail, he begins to strafe the bridge. His starfighter takes a hit from the rear. R2-D2 bleeps concerns when Anakin dives, unleashing a barrage of torpededoes into a fighter bay. It explodes, breaking part of the hull off, exposing the interior. Anakin does another flyby, firing into the exposed insides. As he pulls away, the Federation battleship begins breaking up and exploding.

********

The lightsaber battle continues. Qui-Gon Jin advances Maul to the precipice of a cliff. Maul's Sith ship decloaks and strafes Qui-Gon. Maul turns and jumps off the cliff, as the Sithcraft moves to catch him. As Qui-Gon watches, Maul's Sith ship activates its cloak and disappears into the sky.

********

The droids on the ground begin to fail. The Gungans resume their offensive.

********

The Trade Federation fleet, seeign that its starfigters have deactivated, order a retreat.

********

Padme and the marines seize the throne room where the Nemoidian leaders are cowering. This time It is Padme who presents surrender terms to them.

********

Qui-Gon runs over to Obi-Wan, who is smiling weakly. He places his hand on Obi-Wan's wound and bids him to sit still, and not to worry- the day is won. Obi-Wan agrees- saying that the day was won by Anakin. As he goes into a trance he remarks how powerful the boy is.

********

Victory! Marines are rounding up Nemoidians, Gungans are working side by side with the people of Naboo, as fighters from above start landing. Anakin comes out and is greeted warmly by Padme. She says that she heard it was his flying that saved the day... again. He jokes that he had to protect her on the ground. She smiles back and says this time she didn't mind before she is called away by a guard.

Anakin stares off as she leaves before he is pulled back into reality by the arrival of Qui-Gon supporting a limping Obi-Wan. Obi-Wan asks him if he felt the Force. Anakin nods, and says he thinks so. Obi-Wan turns to Qui-Gon, telling him that Anakin should be trained. Qui-Gon replies that they can discuss it later.

********

As the Nemoidians are led away in cuffs, Chancellor Palpatine arrives at Naboo with Yoda and the Jedi Council. Palpatine congratulates Anakin for his role, and promises him that a close eye will be kept on his career.

Qui-Gon and the Jedi council advise Palpatine about the return of the Sith. Palpatine is stunned by the revelation, asking for details. The Jedi Council tell the Chancellor that the Sith usally work in groups of two- a master and an apprenitce; they don't even know which one the warrior that they fought is. Chancellor Palpatine soberly realises that this means there is another one out there...

Anakin and Obi-Wan present themselves to the council to ask if Anakin can become a Jedi, but Yoda declares that such an action is impossible. Anakin is far too old, and may be tempted by the Dark Side of the Force. Obi-Wan is stunned as the Council exits. He asks Anakin if he wants to become a Jedi. Anakin replies that he does, but that it's impossible now. Obi-Wan replies that it's not- the council has made a mistake, and Obi-Wan will teach Anakin with or without the council's permission.

End credits...

2002-12-04T13:26:00.000-05:00

Is Bush whacked?

"The inhabitants of Greece are the Greecians"
George W. Bush

"The French don't have a word for 'Entrepreneur'"
George W. Bush

"The vast majority of our imports come from outside the country."
George W. Bush

"If we don't succeed, we run the risk of failure."
George W. Bush

"I have made good judgments in the past. I have made good judgments in the future."
George W. Bush

"The future will be better tomorrow."
George W. Bush

"We're going to have the best educated American people in the world."
George W. Bush

"I stand by all the misstatements that I've made."
George W. Bush

"We have a firm commitment to NATO, we are a part of NATO. We have a firm
commitment to Europe. We are a part of Europe."
George W. Bush

"A low voter turnout is an indication of fewer people going to the polls."
George W. Bush

"For NASA, space is still a high priority."
George W. Bush

"Quite frankly, teachers are the only profession that teach our children."
George W. Bush

"It isn't pollution that's harming the environment. It's the impurities in our air and water that are doing it."
George W. Bush

"It's time for the human race to enter the solar system."
George W. Bush

2002-11-30T16:47:00.000-05:00

Speaking of Very Special Forces

*sigh*...

2002-11-29T10:07:00.000-05:00

Life imitates lack-of-art

Wow, I certainly have done a lot of Bush bashing this week, haven't I?

2002-11-28T10:37:00.000-05:00

All this for a song...

The Fujitsu Corporation (the parent company of the consulting firm I work for) has a corporate anthem. Click on "Audio to download the mp3!

2002-11-27T13:04:00.000-05:00

Very Special Forces...

Courtesy of the Onion:

2002-11-27T09:13:00.000-05:00

New Canadian Euphemism

You'd make an excellent US president...

2002-11-26T15:11:00.000-05:00

Overheard in a Bilingual IT Department

"... so I'll check the p'ra-metres."

"It's PAh-RAh-MEET-ers. Parameters. Like Paratroopers, except metric."

2002-11-25T08:36:00.000-05:00

Stick it to the Mega-corps!

This was sent to me in an email. I thought I'd post it.

***************************************

I suppose some degree of commerce would grind to a halt if telephone solicitors weren't able to call people at home during the dinner hour.

But that doesn't make it any more pleasant. Now Steve Rubenstein, a writer for the San Francisco Chronicle, has proposed "Three Little Words" based on his brief experience in a telemarketing operation that would stop the nuisance for all time.

The three little words are "Hold on, please." Saying this while putting down your phone and walking off instead of hanging up immediately
would make each telemarketing call so time consuming those boiler rooms would grind to a halt. When you eventually hear the phone company's beep beep beep tone, you know it's time to go back and hang up your handset, which has efficiently completed its task. This might be one of those articles you'll to e-mail to your friends.

When you get ads in your phone or utility bill, include them with the
payment. Let them throw the stuff away. Think globally; act locally.

When you get those pre-approved letters in the mail for everything from
credit cards to 2nd mortgages and junk like that, most of them come with
postage paid return envelopes, right? Well, why not get rid of some of
your other junk mail and put it in these cool little envelopes!

Send an ad for your local chimney cleaner to American Express, or a pizza coupon to Citibank.

If you didn't get anything else that day, then just send them their application back! Just make sure your name isn't on anything you send
them. You can send it back empty if you want just to keep 'em guessing!

Let's turn this e-mail into a chain letter! Eventually, the banks and credit card companies will begin getting all their junk back in the mail.

Let's let them know what it's like to get junk mail, and best of all...THEY'RE paying for it! Twice! Let's support our postal service. They say e-mail is cutting into their business and that's why
they need to keep increasing postage. We can help! Pass this along to all your friends and maybe we could get enough Business for the post office that they will not have to raise rates in 2004.

2002-11-24T15:53:00.000-05:00

Guess who's coming to dinner?

I don't cook very often, but usualIy when I do, I enjoy it. I suppose I tend not to bother cooking if I'm only cooking for myself because of the time involved, but it's different when you're cooking for someone else.

I had a few friends over for dinner last night; the idea for this dinner party was to get two couples that I'm friends with to meet. I have several circle of friends and each couple was in a different one, but both pairs had just had babies in the past few months. As the pregnancies were progressing, I would usually brief one couple about the other couple's status just so they could have an idea of what is "normal". As time passed by, it got to be amusing since these two couples that had never met were getting a pretty good idea of the other couple's child development.

However, getting them to actually meet was quite the story. It seemed like whenever I threw a party, one or the other wouldn't be able to make it (for good reasons, they had newborns; I understand that is known to take some time out of one's partying schedule). The funniest was when I threw my birthday party and just as one couple was leaving, the other couple pulled up. That was a huge improvement- they actually got to talk face-to-face for about 5 minutes. At that time, I joked that I would throw a small dinner party specifically to get them to meet. I guess no one really expected me to go through with it (I certainly didn't at the time)- in our group of friends, I'm "the bachelor-type"; I tend to be single and don't go out of my way to cook since I'm usually not in a relationship, and as menioned above, I tend not to cook for myself. I guess when I cooked up a multi-course meal, my friends must have been somewhat surprised (insert smug emoticon here).

A few weeks ago, my roommate, Pat, decided to throw a dinner party. I didn't think we'd be able to comfortably seat 8 people, but somehow we managed to make it work. Having seen that it could be done, I decided that I'd actually follow through with the "joke" I made at my birthday party. I'm very glad I did. (Incidentally there were 8 of us; in addition to the parents of the now-not-so-newborns, I also invited the guardians/godparents). Everyone seemed to have a good time.

I started with mostly green salad (red and green peppers, sliced, with chopped lettuce- I didn't have any onions in it, but I sliced the peppers on a board that I cut some onions for the main meal, so the peppers got some light onion flavour to it; the dressing was just olive oil with salt and some juice from a fresh lemon), after that, grapefruit salad to "cleanse the palate" and then a paella dish (recipe at the end of this entry) followed by a store-bought blueberry pie with whipped cream for desert. It was quite a success. I'm rather pleased that the paella turned out so well (everyone filled themselves). My mom used to make it since I was a kid, and I always viewed it as one of those meals that woukld mark me as a capable chef if I were ever to make it as good as she did. I had never tried to make it before, but it turned out pretty well; my version came out considerably more spicier than what my mom makes, but I imagine that is due to me using a different brand of pepperoni. I have to admit, it was a huge thrill when the meal I was cooking began releasing the familiar scents that I recognised from when my mom makes it. The only downside is that the magic of the meal is gone- it's not a secret recipe that my mom only can make anymore. On the other hand, now that anyone can make it, I can have it more frequently. ;)

Anyways, the meal, and the dinner party in fact, was a success. We ended up gabbing until midnight without realising how late it was. I'll definitely be throwing another dinner party, and I'll definitely be trying to make paella more often, to tweak with it a bit more. Paella is not a hard dish to cook; the challenge is in the preparation, but it can be done in advance- I sliced the pepperoni and chicken in advance, and prepared the salad before I started cooking (adding in the oil only before serving). I have to admit, I made a timeline about when I had to do everything, and it would not have turned out so well had I not stuck to it strictly, so a lot of the secret to cooking is time management and concurrent activity.

Anyways, if you are interested, here's the recipe for the paella dish. There's actually a lot of room for variation; it's a dish that is forgiving when you vary things in it. But here's the recipe I use:

You will need:

1 chicken breast (no bones, no skin) cut in small pieces
1 big onion - cut in small pieces

1) Put some oil in a big pot, brown the chicken pieces; then, add the onions, stir, and brown ;

2) Add:
1 pkg of frozen shrimps (450 g.)
3 long pepperoni sticks cut in small pieces
1 or 2 fresh tomatoes, cut in pieces
1 green pepper cut in pieces
2/3rds tbsp salt
2/3rds tbsp herb (I use Parsley)
(I didn't use pepper, but you can!)

Let it cook for about 30 minutes, covered, on low heat.

3) Add:
3 1/2 cups of uncooked rice (long grain- preferably Basmati)
8 cups of water
1 tsp of Turmeric powder

Stir and let cook for about 20 minutes (high heat at first to get the water to boil, then turn the heat to simmer)

4) For the mussels, you can buy the ones in a can, and add 5-10 minutes before the paella is ready. OR you can buy fresh ones (about 1 lb) - you must let them soak in a pot of cold water - while you prepare the rest - all the mussels that did not close, should be tossed out.

You add them to the paella 15 minutes after the rice -
Cover and simmer for another 10 minutes.

5) Add the peas (I use a can of peas - drained) - you can use frozen peas also - about 5 minutes after you add the mussels. The peas are mostly for color- it adds a nice green to the yellow rice and red pepperoni slices.

You can serve direct from the pot, or transfer in a casserole dish that you can place in the oven, and keep everything warm before your guests arrive.

For the quantity of water added to the rice, it is approximate. I quite often add some water if I find that the rice is still not quite cooked, and there is not much water left. Same with the rice, you can add more rice, but you must make sure that you have a big container.

2002-11-22T09:49:00.000-05:00

Diveristy in the Media

Scott put up a link to an article about the lack of diversity in comics. He sums it up pretty well when he says that he wouldn't mind more crap, if only it was a diversity of crap. It got me thinking about diversity about various media in general.

It seems to be that movies have gotten worse while television has gotten better. This is the benefit of diversity. I don't claim that television has attained a universal quality to it- in fact, most of it is still crap, but the market is so segmented that the minority of viewers who don't want to settle for mindless crap are enough of a demographic for the networks and specialty channels to make an effort to appeal to us. With 5,000 shows out there, if even 1% of it is good, that's 50 good shows.

Movies, on the other hand suck. There are far less silver screens out there than television screens, so while television tries to get as many of those screens turned on for its ratings, the movies know how many screens will be turned on in any given week, and as such try to get as high a ratio of viewers to screens. This means appealing to the lowest common denominator.

I'm sure that movie scripts aren't suffering because of bad writers; the scripts are rewritten continuously by market-driven commitees to appease to the types of audiences that can't find foreign countries on a map, but sure don't mind invading them. Meanwhile, television is looking to tap into demographics with obscure interests. As such, television is probably a better medium to keep a show closer to a writers ideas. Hell, if you produce it as well, you can pretty much call the shots.

2002-11-20T00:08:00.000-05:00

The New Math

My plan to reduce human to behaviour to a single equation is taking longer than I planned, but I thought I might share this theorem with you.

Where n represents the number of units of meaningful time spent spent in a relationship, and r is the number of those same time units spent in rebound:

r = .33n

However, due to the differences in indviduals, there is an additional variable of up to .10n in r.

So, using this formula, we see that a one year relationship (52 weeks) will result in 17.3 weeks of rebound time, plus or minus up to 5.2 weeks (ie, 12.1 weeks to 22.5 weeks).

A three year relationship will result in one year plus or minus 15 weeks of rebound time (9 to 15 months).

A four week relationship give you 6 to 12 days of rebound mode.

The worst result of the seven year itch gives you two to three years of r.

A one night stand will result in about 6-10 hours, of rebound time.

A diamond anniversary that goes bust results in about fourteen to thity six years of rebound time.

There's also a variable based on whether you're the dumper, or the dumpee, but I think it's covered by the 10% fluctuation I throw in.

Now additional interesting observations: any new relationships started while in the time period covered by r (ie, a "rebound relationship") doesn't result in further r when the rebound relationship ends (for the person in rebound; the party that is not in rebound mode generates rebound time normally); so, if a rebound relationship starts 6 weeks before r is due to end, when the rebound relationship ends, you can subtract two weeks (= or - 10%) from the second rebound time. Using this follow up theorem, if one limits the duration of a rebound relationship to less than the amount of time spent in rebound mode, no additional rebound time is generated when that rebound relationship ends (yes, folks, I've figured out a way to minimax rebound time in relationships. Please, no applause, just buy my book when it comes out...)

So, anyone out there want to validate or dispute my math? ;)

2002-11-19T00:05:00.000-05:00

Well, it's funny to me...

Last month, a worldwide survey was conducted by the UN. The only question asked was:

"Would you please give your honest opinion about solutions to the food shortage in the rest of the world?"

The survey was a huge failure.

-In Africa they didn't know what "food" meant.
-In Eastern Europe they didn't know what "honest" meant.
-In Western Europe they didn't know what "shortage" meant.
-In China they didn't know what "opinion" meant.
-In the Middle East they didn't know what "solution" meant.
-In South America they didn't know what "please" meant.
-In USA they didn't know what "the rest of the world" meant...

2002-11-18T15:46:00.000-05:00

If Looks Could Kill...

I saw the Others this weekend on video. A good movie; very creepy in a Sixth Sense kind of way (I never imagined that three people strolling across a lawn could be so chilling!). When it first came out, a friend of mine told me it was good except the only problem with it was that Nicole Kidman was too attractive, and her stunning looks were a distraction from the suspense. I thought she was being moderately sarcastic when she told me this, but now that I've seen it for myself, I have to agree. I'm sure I spent a good third of the movie coming to grips with the realisation that Nicole Kidman looked so good (in Moulin Rouge, it wasn't so bad; there's so much eyecandyonscreenallthetimenonstopinyourfacevisuals, that her stunning looks just add to the sensory overload. Still, it was a great movie.

I also watched part of Pulp Fiction again; another classic. I look forward to going through the special features on the disc.

Last, but not least (actually, first, since I saw it on Friday), I saw Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets. I liked it more than Harry Potter & the Philosopher's Stone, mostly because it didn't have to establish itself. The reel broke about 20 minutes from the end, so we got a refund even though they fixed it. This is good, since with the voucher, I won't have to pay to see the new Bond film.

2002-11-17T17:39:00.000-05:00

Secret Diaires on TheAlphageeks

I've added a link to the Secret Diaries of the Lord of the Rings on TheAlphageeks for those fo you who haven't read them. You've got a month to brush up before the Two Towers comes out.

2002-11-15T09:49:00.000-05:00

Geek brags about character on web site...

I love it in a game where you get to do a tribute to a favorite scene from a movie. The scene I payed tribute to, last night in a solo D&D session, was Jackie Chan versus the Ax gang, in drunken master.

Hehheh! The perfection that is Remo, my D&D monk, hit 10th level last night after he and his new apprentice (who's not that much of an apprentice as she is only a level or two behind me) taught 30 orc warriors the lesson of Ed Gruberman.

3 waves of 30 Javelins were tossed his way, with 88 of them missing, 1 of them being deflected with his bare hands, and 1 of them grazing him just enough for him to lick his own blood, Bruce Lee style, before exploding into a flurry of blows.

2002-11-12T01:42:00.000-05:00

Peace with a relic from the Cold war

Strangely enough, I'm looking forward to the upcoming Bond film despite it's feeble title. I used to have a big chip on my shoulder against the Bond films, especially since Brosnan took the role, because they weren't really true to the espionage genre. Recently though, I had something of a revelation. It occured to me that Fleming didn't intend to write about espionage: he merely used its trappings to write about the type of hero who defends the supremacy of the British Empire.

Bond is an archtype; the privateer transplanted from the High Seas to a cold war Europe (now post cold-war). Napoleon's fleet, the Spanish Armada and the Vatican have been replaced, initially the former two by the Russian Communists, and the latter by SPECTRE (can you honestly tell me that Blofeld isn't an evil papal figure?), but now by anyone else who would threaten the Commonwealth (represented a little more globally by the "Free World"). 007's License to Kill is the modern day letter of marque. He's traded his rapier for a Walther, his sailing ship for an Aston Martin, and he steals secrets from the Russians instead of treasure from the Spanish, but he still has a woman in every port.

Bond, of course is the idealised privateer, motivated by service to Queen and Country above material wealth, in a tradition that dates back at least as far as to Robin Hood's devotion to King Richard. This of course explains why Dame Judi Densch makes such a good "M"; she's a much better personification of the Queen who must, to her distaste, rely on a man who flies the Jolly Roger instead of the Union Jack (also that, and it is "Her Majesty's Secret Service". Despite her harsh assessment of his cavalier manner, Bond never shows her the slightest disrespect. He never apologises, and accepts that the nature of his job requires that she maintain a certain amount of scorn towards him. On the other end, M knows that Bond is the man who will get the job done, and Francis Drake got a Knighthood in the end...

This is not to say that the series is not without its flaws. The World is Not Enough was lowest common denominator crap, but this new film shows some promise. I think Halle Berry, despite her American-ness, brings a certain amount of exotic flair to the film, and the tribute to the Ursula Andress swimwear shows that someone is starting to pay attention to the tradititions again. Also, kudos to the decision to bring back the Aston Martin. From what I can see, the villains look like their following the formula again; a cultured Caucasian mastermind partnered with an ethnic freak (actually, it's not totally formula, but it works 4 out of 5 times...)

Of course, I'll have to see the movie before I make my final judgement; but at least I won't be going in expecting to hate it. Rest assured, there'll be a follow up to this post.

2002-11-12T00:38:00.000-05:00

Word Count...

I've manged to push my word count for NaNoWrimo up to 6,000+. Not bad. One of the nice things about my novel is that I'm writing it so that it covers a mission that our deniable hero undertakes interspersed with a training period presented in flashbacks. This gives me a lot of liberty since the novel is not exactly linear in its time.

I'm also writing scenes as I feel like it and pasting them in as I like it. It's a mess,but it's all about the word count. It's very rough. Thank god it's not for show. Even if I manage to make the deadline (ha!), it'll be so choppy, I'll still want to work on it.

One of the cool things about this is that I am actually working on something a little more concrete than a module that I'll run once for a handfull of players. There's a different feel to working on somethnig that is relatively permanent.

2002-11-11T23:41:00.000-05:00

Holy CCR Batman!

Scott put this up on Alphageeks, but I had to post the Batman link.

(there's a good Aquaman up there too).

2002-11-10T22:10:00.000-05:00

This is what all the joking is all about

For those of you wondering what Rob, Rich and I keep quoting, check out Homestar Runner. StrongBad's email is particularly amusing.

2002-11-10T22:04:00.000-05:00

All Things Geeky

Scott and I have created TheAlphageeks, a blog dedicated to all things geeky. Actually, Scott created it. At this point, I'm merely his wingman, but a wingman with r007! ;)

The hard core geek stuff will be over there while I restrict the content of this site to the soft core stuff.