22 posts tagged “wicked cool”
Has everyone seen the new Transformers Trailer? It's causing me to giggle with maniacal glee.
On the other blog, back in the day, I used to do a weekly post on animé - the Friday Animé Primer. Being a big fan of the genre, I watch quite a bit of it. Gotta be careful nowadays, because it's easy to find yourself watching something rather racy.
But tonight, I was watching episode 12 of Samurai 7 - an animated sci-fi retelling of Akira Kurosawa's Shichinin no Samurai (Seven Samurai - the basis for the great Western film The Magnificent Seven). Samurai 7 has been pretty good up through the ep I'm on right now. (Episode 12 - The Truth). Good characters, good story (the source material is, again, awesome). **SPOILER ALERT** In this episode, the young Katsushiro is dealing with the fact that he's just taken his first life. He did it to save the village, but he's never killed before. The reason he had to is because Manzo, a rather dour farmer, has decided to sell everyone out to the bandits in a bid to save his own life. After a demonstration of Kikuchyo's samurai fighting spirit, (He's the guy in the picture) and a revelation of his... unique origins... Kambei addresses Manzo, explaining why what he did was wrong. And we get this gem.
"Selfish deeds are the shortest path to self destruction."
Now, instantly there's a part of me that realizes that there are a couple of sides to this coin. I recognize the impulse in me that says "yeah, that's totally right". And then I stop to think about it. I suppose it's true that a short-term-mindset selfish action with no thought of consequences is the shortest path to self destruction. Of course, it's the short-term mindset and the lack of thought of consequences that's the trouble. Capitalism is built on the selfish actions of the individual, and in harnessing that great selfishness, has made the English speaking world the economic and technological powerhouse that it is. Some people claim that capitalism is evil. To those people, I shrug and say capitalism works. It generates wealth and prosperity - and those are good things. Capitalism, combined with basic freedoms, is a great force for good in the world. It builds bridges and digs wells. It grows crops and feeds hungry people. It creates miraculous tools for communication and connection, without which I couldn't write this here on this free page, and you couldn't read it. Go figure.
Short-term-mindset selfish actions with no thought of consequence gives us Enron.
Capitalism and freedom make possible the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation.
Just got back from Half-Price Books, where we spent WAY too much money on books for Claire and the rest of the family. I found a compilation of the original Dragonriders of Pern books. But that's not the best.
The best was the audio cd versions of Charlie and the Chocolate Factory and Charlotte's Web. Less than $20.00 for the both of them, both unabridged. The Charlie and the Chocolate Factory is, of course, read by Eric Idle, who was nominated for a Grammy for this performance. And the Charlotte's Web is read by none other than E.B. White himself.
I immediately ripped the C&tCF, and Claire is listening to Eric Idle read her to sleep right now. Of course, I got to lie there and listen while she was brushing her teeth, and he darn near put me to sleep.
So, Claire was baptized a week ago Sunday. Since then...
Had a good visit with my parents...
Had my 10 year wedding anniversary. (Yay us!)
Grandpa caught the stomach flu. As did everyone else. Except me.
But Grandpa was a special case because it played havoc with his diabetic medication, causing his blood sugar to crash. Causing the paramedics to come out at 2:30 AM on Wednesday morning. And again at 7:30.
Yesterday, we had freezing rain most of the day, prompting most everyone in my office to declare that they were working from home. After a brief meeting, I likewise declared victory and quit the field to work from home.
Which I did until about 7:00 last night, when I had to take Grandma to the emergency room, because half of her face was swelling up. Swollen spit gland the (not great bedside manner) doctor told us. I asked if we should fill the prescription on the way home. And Grandma said we'd do it in the morning. And I found that my lack of diligence at diet and exercise hasn't done too much damage. I weighed in yesterday a little over 245. Which, considering my scale, puts me somewhere around 255.
This morning, I found my car encased in a 1/4" thick ice cocoon. And the pharmacy was closing in an hour. And I still have to get 9 hours of work in. Chiseled (literally - with a screwdriver) the edges of the doors free of the ice, then turned the car on and let it run for 30 minutes. During which time it rolled about ten feet back down the road because my parking brake apparently needs adjustment.
Made it to Albertson's for Grandma's prescription, as well as kitty litter, dry cat food, and wet cat food (the essentials), as well as some milk and an Odwalla bar. (Because I'm addicted. Okay? I said it. Chocowalla. Mmmmmmm.) And when we got back I took a few more pictures. Here they are.
Stay Warm!
Well, that two weeks just flew by.
The holidays have been bad for the diet. And we had to bring all the plants into the garage so there's no place to exercise. :p So I haven't weighed myself, and tomorrow, I re-launch! Whoo! Six more weeks, I figure. My pants (the new ones) are falling off me still, so I'm not too worried. And I did pretty well on week six. Week seven we won't talk about.
In other news, I found this video that everyone has seen before.
It's been a long time since I've played a good First Person Shooter. I was at the computer store today, looking at F.E.A.R, which I haven't played yet, and decided my money was better saved for another month or two until I can justify Guild Wars: Nightfall. Besides, I haven't played my way through GW:Factions yet, and I've been playing a lot of old school GBA stuff lately. (Final Fantasy Tactics: Advance, at least my third time through it). So I couldn't justify the purchase. Instead, I went home and kicked up the Steam client, looking to play a little Half-Life 2, still one of the best shooters of all time.
And here's how I know that it's been a long time since I've played a good FPS.
It's making me motion-sick. I can take it for about 30-45 minutes, and then I have to quit to quell the impending queasiness. It's fun, but I can't do marathon sessions like I used to. I'll save the marathon gaming for WH40k:Dark Crusade, or GW:Factions. Now I've gotta go lie down. After Chinese food. It's my free day. Cereal for breakfast, plenty o'Dew, the Rockin' Tomato All You Can Eat Pizza Buffet, (where I didn't have All I Could Eat, didn't want to be sick, but did see some college women's soccer). Yup, once a week, I take a trip to CGNU. (Crazy Go Nuts University, home of the Fighting Dumples).
This was just too funny.
I'm kind of in the middle of three books. It's been a while since I've really read for fun, but after reading through Heinlein's "Have Space Suit Will Travel", I've been looking for more. So, not that it's anything special, but here's what I'm currently working on.
The books is more of the same. For those of you who are unfamiliar with this particular piece, the opening of the book looks at demographics, and how they are likely to shape politics to come. Rather than population growth across the globe, people in Western Progressive Democratic States (like Great Britain, Scandinavia, Germany, Japan, etc.) are not reproducing at replacement rates. (2.1 children per female). Instead, they are at significantly lower birth rates. This is going to cause economic problems, as fewer young people will be entering the work force to help pay for social programs like welfare and universal health coverage. But the economics isn't the only problem. The countries that are reproducing at replacement rate or higher are by and large Islamic. With time and manpower, the Islamic states are betting that they'll be the ones to dictate international policies in the future, and they could well be right. When the most popular baby boy's name in Belgium and Amsterdam is "Mohammed", there's a huge cultural shift going on.
Unfortunately, Claire has not been as enthusiastic about it as I was. So instead of us reading it together as I'd originally planned, I'm going to read it myself. The beginning is interesting, the site (at www.venpolypheme.com) also has an essay contest for children to win a trip to Chicago and sail on a tall ship (which may or may not have a pirate encounter on the Lake). And one of the judges for the contest is, of course, The Rock. Always nice to see people you want to do well diversifying.
Then I decided to cheat and just read ahead. Such is my current (successful) plan of action. I'll go back and re-read it to Claire when I'm done. Which, considering opportunities to read over the next few days, should be Monday.
What the heck happened to James Bond? Casino Royale is basically that series' version of "Batman Begins", except without the incredibly sucky baggage of the previous Batman film which shall not be named. It's definitely not my father's James Bond.
Isn't it basically one of those fatherly things? At least it was for me. It was Dad who introduced me to James Bond - we saw Roger Moore in "For Your Eyes Only" at the drive-in. I don't remember how old I was at the time. And as each movie came out, we'd catch them in the theater, or on tape. But the new Bond, while good - indeed very good, is not that same formula we've come to know and love. It's brutal, brooding, and much darker. Killing isn't as easy or glamorous any more (which I suppose is more realistic, but who wants realism in a James Bond movie, really?). Gone are the pithy one-liners, the megalomaniacs, the secret hidden bases, and the trip through Q-labs.
At least for now. I don't want to spoil this for anyone, so I won't mention the specifics, but it seems that in re-booting the character of James Bond, they've rebooted the entire Bond universe. It will be interesting to see if that means that we'll see re-makes of the earlier films. It could be very interesting indeed to see a re-imagined Blofeld, for example. But they definitely don't have to do that. By the end of this movie, James Bond as a character has been re-created and explained in his own right. He's become the cold-blooded secret agent, the "blunt instrument", as he's referred to in the movie (and in some of the later books that I read - I never have read Fleming's Bond novels - but I have read some of the Gardener books). Anyway, it's gritty guy fun. Just don't take the kids, and don't expect to see the suave, debonair assassin. It's a whole new Bond.
