Eric the .5b

Absence

2008-02-14T16:15:31Z

Sorry, folks, for missing WoW last night. I was feeling poorly and my DSL went dead. (It may or may not be back on tonight.)

Geeze, I've been a bit sparse here, lately.

Politics: A Brief Request of Certain Ron Paul Supporters

2008-01-19T01:29:57Z

Speaking as someone who until recently heartily supported Ron Paul, then rather unhappily came to conclude that I could no longer do so, I would like to say the following to a sadly high portion of the remaining Ron Paul supporters who have been posting online:

Look, I'm happy to comply with your request, but you have to stop waving your hands around while ranting about the "witch hunt" so that I can actually nail you to the cross you've jumped up onto.

Happy New Year!

2008-01-01T06:01:28Z

Greetings from the future, folks to the West.

Merry Christmas, All

2007-12-26T03:35:24Z

I had a very nice family get-together yesterday, so it's been a cheerfully quiet and solitary day today. I hope y'all have had a good holiday or holy day, as suits you.

Dumb Question - Does F Date Like SF?

2007-12-22T00:26:04Z

Do works of fantasy tend to get dated after decades - or alternately, does fantasy written at different periods of time tend to have palpably distinct tendencies, tropes, and traits - like works of science fiction tend to?

I can read a SF short story or novel, and excepting those with obvious references to then-contemporary life, I believe I can make a decent guess of when the story was written, at least down to the decade. I haven't read remotely as much fantasy as SF, however, so I'm suddenly, inexplicably curious whether the same is possible for fantasy fans (with the same "ignoring obvious contemporary links" caveat when able).

2^5

2007-11-29T05:36:11Z

This has been the most fatigued birthday of mine in recent memory. Still recovering from a few very bad nights of sleep in row while fending off a stomach bug.

Otherwise, hey. Still here at 32. :)

This Doesn't Make Me Feel Old, It Makes Me Laugh!

2007-11-17T05:14:19Z

60 Minutes Takes a Dump on "Millenials", as blogged on 37 Signals. Or, in other words, 60 Minutes found that people 25 and below are generally a bit less serious and a hair less professional than ~~the people they'll be in five or ten years~~ older people.

What's absolutely, shriekingly hilarious is that the comment thread is full of denunciations of old fogies who Just Don't Get the Kids warring with head-shaking declarations that the kids really are Just That Lazy and Spoiled. Some people are taking it deadly seriously.

Maybe it's time I finally got around to watching Slackers.

Tasty

2007-11-14T06:31:34Z

I'm not even sure you can call this a recipe, but hey:

1) Take avocado ripened enough so that you can halve it and scoop out the soft flesh with a spoon.
2) ...Do that.
3) Sprinkle tiny amount of lime juice atop aforementioned soft flesh.

It's good.

The Man's a Scultor, Not an Architect

2007-11-10T20:47:01Z

MIT is suing Frank Gehry over the cartoon building caught in mid-collapse-design of the $300M Stata Center. Turns out, it looks far, far prettier than it works - and leaks like a sieve.

I remember a Wired article on the construction a few years back, with all the dubious people who just wanted a building they could work in - aren't weren't sure this was one - painted as silly old nerds who couldn't appreciate beauty.

I Cooked!

2007-11-10T03:42:59Z

It's true! I did not merely heat, tonight. I cooked on the stove.

Well, it was just some basmatic rice, but it was fragrant, soft, and very tasty with some palak paneer on top. A soothing end to an over-eventful day.

Also About Money

2007-11-09T22:17:05Z

bruceb brought writer Mark Evanier's blog to my attention a little while back when he was writing about the creation of the character Scrappy-Doo. I've been following it with interest since, especially his notes about the WGA strike (which he's posted between actually, you know, picketing).

The thing I like is that he explains the situation and his concerns honestly and fairly. This recent entry is worth reading in its entirety, but the part that jumped out to me is here:

No one, I should hope, is expecting you to feel sorry for us Professional Writers because we're getting gypped on DVD money and Internet downloads and the like. Not a one of us chose this line of work under duress. This is just a business dispute — a larger, nastier version of the kind of thing that goes on thousands of times a day in Hollywood when we aren't on strike, and which happens in some form in any profitable business. We may get emotional because we do see our work and human lives getting damaged by a number of things that the Producers have done or are attempting to do. You'd get emotional if your boss was trying to slash your salary, too. Or whittle away your family's health insurance.

Well, I didn't say he was dispassionate, ;) but I respect the way he presents his take.

I've annoyed people recently by not taking a pro- or anti-WGA stance on the strike, and I'm going to continue to annoy those people by not really having an emotional reaction beyond, "As the man said, it's a business dispute - one that will eventually be resolved." However, I find Evanier's posts on the subject clear, interesting, informative, and free of BS; anyone following the strike will probably find something worthwhile trawling through his archives or Googling for recent mentions of the WGA.

Damn Honest Mechanics

2007-11-09T21:50:02Z

When they lead you detail by detail through every problem with your car, show you the damaging wear, point out the problems, and are scrupulously forthright and complete about the bill, you just miss out on the cathartic "bastards screwed me!" bitchin'. ;)

Dick Spotted

2007-11-07T02:22:39Z

It's actually pretty tasty, zapped for 30 second and with a little maple syrup drizzled on top. Despite being a pudding, the texture is like a really moist, crumbly cake.

First Panel, Third Row - Cutest Thing I've Seen, Today

2007-11-03T03:25:53Z

Sketchy Review: 30 Days of Night

2007-10-21T08:11:59Z

Going to re-read the comic, but first, my impressions in semi-organized fashion.

I'm going to lead off with disappointments, I'm afraid. But there's some tastiness in there.

First, is it the screenwriters, the directors, or the producers who have broken hearts and the strange certainty that if some horrible, traumatic event had happened to them, they'd have been able to win back their significant others' love?

Seriously, that's the first thing that jumped out at me. The early scenes where in the comic we see Eben and Stella look over the burned cell-phones, smooch, and then watch the sunset don't have Stella. Instead, Eben's with his deputy (they don't smooch). When we finally see Stella, she's getting ready to catch the last plane out of town. It turns out that they've separated, and their friends all want to know why.

I had a bit of a sinking feeling at that point. I knew they would pad the original story, but I didn't think they'd change something as central as that. And as I said to my friend Dani afterwards, don't they do that in every movie, lately? Actual long-term relationships seem to be becoming like pregnancy in movies - something that's almost never just established as part of the situation and depicted, no matter how short the time-frame of the story. Just like nearly any movie with a pregnant major character (aside from Fargo) will have her go into labor and give birth, any movie with a long-term couple will have some problem (and a resulting crisis) in their relationship. Seriously - if I watch a movie and a couple is introduced, there seems to be a silent count-down to the revelation that Something Is Very Wrong.

Stella misses her flight, and the friend who got her to the airport too late offers to put her up for the month - "but the condition is that you're going to have to tell [my wife and I] what's up with you two."

He never learns. We never learn.

That's one way to graft an alien sub-plot into the story without warping much of the rest, I guess.

In end, they get back together. Well, naturally, a little before the end of course, as the movie at least kept the original ending...

Second, it's a jump-fest. Worse, it's a jump-and-be-deafened-by-audio-punishment-fest. This might have been a theater problem to be fair, but damn, especially early on, the screaming was loud and the equally, thunderously loud musical cues made the use of Also Sprach Zarathusa in 2001 seem subtle and indirect.

Again, this is padding, and it's part of a mixed effect. There's some really nice survival-horror moments as we see the band of survivors try to keep hidden and maneuver for safety, which was a welcome addition - but a lot of the tension came from the fear that something is going to go wrong, and the payoff won't be something so much horrifying as painfully, startlingly loud.

Third, apparently someone hated all the interactions among the vampires in the story. In the movie, there's no politics and no pissed-off bigwig arriving to say "What were you idiots thinking?" Instead, they're just a pack of feral, if playful creatures. Aside from the little girl who wants to play, only their leader has any dialog whatsoever, and only two lines of his are in English; I wasn't sure what language he was supposed to be speaking as he gave a few little soliloquies to his snarling posse. The rest of the vampires just hiss, howl, and generally act like some a two-legged pack of wolves or big cats. Admittedly, there's some nice work put into this depiction, particularly some bits of body language and the enthusiastic, malevolent pleasure the actors put into their depictions. (To the point where the one reference to the misery of undeath from the story comes off quite falsely.) It really does work as a depiction, aside from one unintentionally comic moment where a vampire off by himself makes a few pointless cries and snarls without reason and in a terribly happy manner, as if just for the pleasure of the noise.

(Of course, I later found myself wondering how the Hell this crowd of vampires managed to hide and convince the world they didn't exist. I just keep imagining the leader, somewhere in Eastern Europe, face-palming as one of his cohorts screams gleefully while chasing a victim, waking half the city. The best excuse I can come up with is that they're letting out centuries of stifled howls and harrying-cries...which would suggest that maybe that one vampire really was just enjoying the sound of his own voice. :) )

Fourth, like another flawed movie, the last War of the Worlds remake, it satisfyingly establishes the horror of the situation. Once they finally stop being coy with the vampires (which they do for a hair too long, really, and they shamefully pass up the "march on the town" shot, even though they have someone apparently see just that thing!) and show them ravaging the town, it's nightmarish, but in a horribly lucid way. This goes back to the second impression, though - there's really no need for the jump-fest, because the other elements of the movie can bring the fear.

Fifth, the violence is brutal, especially the violence by human beings. I approve of this, actually. Violence frightens them - there's a nice bit early on where Eben has to forcibly arrest the wannabe-Renfield, and the bystanders are frozen in shock, even cringing - and they don't find fighting to kill easy or pleasant. These things emphasizes that they're just people against cruel, nightmarish things beyond human capacity. There's some heroic effort, but people get palpably hurt. It admirably grounds the awfulness of the situation.

Decapitations are not easy for these characters. In fact, a squick-warning to Bruce and other folks who seem to have similar boundaries to me: while others happen off-camera, one decapitation towards the end shows a second ax-blow actually hit a man's neck and dislodge his head further in very convincing fashion. It fit, but I don't think I needed to see that.

Sixth, for all its faults, it's one of the rare survival-horror movies I've seen where you actually want most everyone to make it. They're decent people who don't suddenly become cold-blooded, selfish bastards because it's a life-or-death situation. They aren't stupid, but they try to help each other and anyone else they can, and there's a refreshing lack of the stereotypical and not-especially-realistic "people in tense, confined place" interactions most movies have happen. When folks do act unwisely, it's not out of cowardice or hostility, but compassion or love. Even the one guy (as there's always one guy) who doesn't earn this sort of sympathy is more tragic than anything.

Seventh, there's action on the edge of Bourne Supremacy-hectic-ness, but unlike that movie, the camera does regularly catch up and show things happening too fast to entirely follow, instead of just bouncing around to suggest things happening too fast to follow. I have to appreciate that.

Eight, I really like that thing where you suddenly realize that something significant is happening in the background of a shot, slightly out of focus. I like being startled by that.

Ninth and last (but not quite least - that was #8), I learned that there's something remarkable about Alaskans - their blood doesn't dry or freeze, even after most of a month. Really, a full month in, we see vampires looking for any remaining survivors still covered with fresh, wet blood...

When One Panel All But Sells the Manga

2007-10-07T07:53:46Z

Right here.

Ironically, Getting Numbed Was the Only Painful Part...

2007-10-02T20:38:44Z

...But having a dentist just a trace violently wrench, pry, and then pull my wayward molar out was an incredibly peculiar sensation.

The Other Laugh That Made My Day

2007-09-30T05:03:18Z

Wow, I Was Tired

2007-09-30T02:00:00Z

I completely slept through the message Kiyomi left, stellabambino. It gave me a good laugh when I woke up, though. :)

Worst (First). Cavity. Ever.

2007-09-27T05:18:07Z

That's my problem. My first cavity in adult teeth, and it's in my weird, misaligned back molar. And it's abscessed, with an infection that's apparently reached the nerve.

The dentist has voted that tooth off the island. But first, a course of antibiotics to deal with the infection and a smattering of lortab to go with the ibuprofen I've been taking.

Monday morning is yank-day. Let's see if I can get any work done the next two days.

31 Years of Fastidious Oral Hygeine

2007-09-26T15:16:54Z

...And now I've got a toothache that doesn't let me eat or sleep and barely lets me think.

Going to the dentist in a bit.

Back from Cruising Down the Atlanta Highway

2007-09-06T03:33:51Z

I am back from my trip to Georgia!

Many thanks to zamiel, stellabambino, and the lovely Kiyomi for showing me a great time in Atlanta, Lawrenceville, and Athens, as well (of course) as going with me to Dragon*Con.

I am quite worn out.

Bleg: V8 to Gazpacho?

2007-08-26T00:51:30Z

I have V8 left over from hurricane shopping (wanted thermostable veggies), but I don't much like V8. I've found a few gazpacho (yum!) recipes that use V8 - anyone ever tried that?

Oof

2007-08-24T12:58:04Z

Sorry, guys, did another step-away-and-crater last night. To be fair, it was after midnight and I'd slept awfully the night before. Oof, though - forgot to even set my alarm.

point5b @ 2007-08-21T18:17:00

2007-08-21T23:26:29Z

zamiel passed me a link to this WoW Guild Name Generator that produces 100 guild names at a time using vocabulary and word patterns from thousands of actual guild names.

Resulting names range from the comical ("Ring of the Banana Penguins", "The Syndicate of Deadbeat Gods", or "The Frackin Unstupid") to the plausible ("Honour of the Shadow Killers" or "The Sacred Knights") to the Just Plain Cool ("Whispers of the White Summoners", "The Levels of Seraphic Darkness", "Tyrants of the Sacred Soldiers"). Workable band names galore bubble up.

It's just fun.