Ye Olde Fortress of Solitude

In the dictionary under redundant, it says see reduntand ~Robin Williams

Wed, 27 Jun 2007 19:26:16 GMT

This may be my last post, as Nathan pointed out the other day...facebook is pretty much able to do anything that livejournal can do. So I might as well just post my rantings there....and also...pretty much everyone on my list already has facebook. But I might say something here from time to time.

And if anyone else is keeping theirs up I'll continue to post.

Good journey.

Nerdgasm 10th anniversary style.

Mon, 11 Jun 2007 15:07:13 GMT

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0871427/

Weeeeeeee!!!!

EVERYBODY PANIC!!!!!

Thu, 07 Jun 2007 15:36:41 GMT

According to Bill Murray's character Peter Venkman, this is a sign of the apocalypse.

http://www.carrollcountytimes.com/articles/2007/06/04/news/local_news/newsstory4.txt

Ever wonder....

Wed, 06 Jun 2007 14:15:34 GMT

Sometimes odd thoughts cross my mind...like this morning I says to myself I says "Hey, how come the starving children in Africa never pick up a big rock and bash each others brains out, then EAT each other?

Or maybe it's just not reported on the news.

Or why I should never gain power

Fri, 01 Jun 2007 15:01:40 GMT

http://www.blogthings.com/howevilareyouquiz/

You've broken the law (Yes, many times.)
You've looked at nudie pics online (Ditto)
You've secretly wished someone harm (Often, and occassionally to their face.)
You've kissed someone you shouldn't be kissing (Years ago a girl with a boyfriend kissed me.)
You've said something so mean it made someone cry (Maybe more than once, and possibly a professor.)
You've done illegal drugs (Yes, but lets be honest, they shouldn't be illegal.)
You've killed a bug (I went two years without killing mosquitos, but now the little fuckers are toast.)
You've spit in someone's drink (No.)
You've sought revenge on someone (Yes, and I enjoyed it.)
You've made a prank phone call (Umm I think I did.)
You've turned people against someone (Yes, and they deserved it.)
You've illegally downloaded music online (Yes, haven't you?)
You've flirted with someone to make someone else jealous (Not intentionally)
You've told racist / sexist jokes (Yes, just because they were ironic doesn't make them less racist/sexist.)
You've called someone the "c" word (Yes, it was the most vile and disguisting word I could think of and trust me it was well deserved.)
You've made a promise you knew you were going to break (Possibly)
You've done the "walk of shame" (No.)
You've corrupted a minor (Yes, possibly several. Not sexually, but intellectually.)
You've divulged someone's dark secret (Yes, because it was in their best interest.)
You've made fun of a retarded person (Depends on your definition of retarded, if it means someone who is differently abled, there was this kid in a wheelchair who was a whiny baby but otherwise fine.)
You've cheated on a test... or a lover (On a test.)
You don't believe in God (I believe in the possibility but I'm not going to worship one.)
You hate kids (Not as rule, but some kids suck, even Dr. Suess thought so.)
You've gotten in a fist fight (I punched a guy in the stomach.)
You made someone's life hell in school (Probably.)
You've shoplifted or stolen from someone (Many times.)
You've been so drunk you couldn't remember the night before (Maybe, there was one night that I'm not sure if I threw up or not but other than that I remember even the darkest drunk.)
You've vandalized someone's car or house (We spray painted a school, and I've written political graffiti on a wall.)
You've made fun of a fat person (Yep.)
You have a fondness for disturbing pictures / anime (Well I like zombie movies...)
You've blamed a fart on someone else (I don't know...maybe when I was 5?)
You enjoy setting things on fire (Who doesn't like fire?!)
You've been arrested (No, I'm too good to be caught.)
You've secretly backstabbed a friend (I've openly backstabbed a friend.)
You would choose your life over the lives of 100,000 strangers (Are the strangers trying to kill me? Do I have something that could save 100 001? Do they have the plague?)
You would kill for 1,000,000 if you were guaranteed not to get caught (Yes, pedophiles, war criminals, religious zealots.)
You've harmed yourself to get attention (Not on purpose, but I do love attention.)
You have a nemesis (Probably, maybe more than one.)
You believe in an eye for an eye... or even more for an eye (Not in all situations, but on occasion)
You don't think lying to a stranger is a big deal (Well when people used to ask if my English accent was real I'd tell them yes, but I did wonder about them finding out.)
You think giving to the homeless is wasting money (No, they need it more than I do.)
You'll pick evil over stupid any day (Absolutly, I'd rather kill six billion people than let all of them die.)
You aren't bothered by seeing others in pain (Depends, I'm pretty desensitized to those commercials about starving kids in Africa.)
You'd rather have world domination than world peace (Yes, I don't believe world peace is possible.)
You enjoy very violent video games (Define very, I kill hundreds of things a day in World of Warcraft.)
You are disgusted by weak people (Only weak people who don't attempt to be stronger.)
You would keep a wallet full if cash if it came your way (No, this bit me in the ass once.)
You rather harm an enemy than help a friend (No, unless that enemy were up to something really no good.)
You've shot a gun... and liked it (Paintball, and Pellet, someday real...)
You'd rather be a supervillian than a superhero (No.)

You Are 90% Evil

You're the most evil person you know.
The devil is even a little scared of you!

So the obvious question is....

Wed, 30 May 2007 15:36:30 GMT

Is this: https://us.blizzard.com/sc2collectible/starcraft2/menu.html
A good investment?

There are a lot of hardcore starcraft fans out there, and it is kinda cool looking art. (And we're all aware how much a StarWars toy from the 70's is worth)

Still....I do not know.

My new goal is to become King of South Korea

Mon, 21 May 2007 18:12:35 GMT

I was wondering what they've been doing all this time....

Sat, 19 May 2007 12:52:19 GMT

Mmmm tantalizing.

http://www.blizzard.com/

I gotta get me one'ah those.

Fri, 18 May 2007 14:59:56 GMT

So it looks like the big drug companies have me hooked. After 72 hours I was no longer able to function properly, causing the "Hmm pehaps when you're not working/going to school would be a better time to try this." So I will resume my brain exparament later (should make for an interesting christmas)
On a funny side note two hours after halfing my does (at least that seems to be working) the brain zaps went away which is good...cause...ANNOYING.

Now on to more pressing business. You should join the Stargate TCG Online community. Cause it's gonna be big, and this is the first set...trust me, it's much better than joining years later, you end up spending far more money than you should.

Hmm okay time to make some worklunch.

Stay spiffy.

My head feels funny.

Tue, 15 May 2007 01:11:20 GMT

Seriously. Detox is not fun. But at least it's not like on tv where one throws up...still I have these strange feelings where I may or may not fall to the floor and have a seizure. "Try going off you medication to see if you need to still be on it." Thanks Doc.

EDIT - This is what I'm talking about. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Brain_shivers

Anyway PennyArcade has furnished me with a new way to waste time/money.

A Stargate TCG, now after the Babylon 5, Starwars debachles I'd normally say "Pfft fool me three times shame on...um me?" But this one, like Magic...is Online. Which means I have no choice but to surrender to it.

http://stargateonlinetcg.station.sony.com/

You big tease!

Mon, 14 May 2007 14:37:22 GMT

What does this mean?
http://www.blizzard.com/

Damnit I want to see Starcraft Galaxies or something before there is more Diablo....

I warn you...you might screw yourself if you go for 4

Sun, 13 May 2007 23:48:57 GMT

The only movie Francise I can think of where the 4th movie was better than the third is Alien. (And that's partly thanks to Joss Whedon) I think Spider-man has reached a nice conclusion for now, and lets be frank. 3? Wicked awesome.

I'm not gonna lie to you....

Fri, 11 May 2007 18:38:23 GMT

Losing Melissa was the emotional equivelent of having my heart torn from my chest. (See above)
Perhaps I do tend to invest too much of my self-worth in my feelings for others, and I thought I knew emotional pain before? Oh no dear reader, I was mistaken. Last night I had a moment where I felt like going up to her and saying "Okay if the only thing keeping us apart is money, I can solve that problem!" Then quit school and get a factory job...but as much as I dislike school, I really do want to finish. If only so I don't have to lie on my resume. (Despite my knowledge that I've already learned all they have to teach me about writing essays.) So...I shall stick it out and hope the hole in my chest will slowly shrink, until I'm whole again. Maybe I'll meet someone nice, you never know eh.

Sweet

Mon, 30 Apr 2007 21:28:08 GMT

Jinx! Jinx! Jinx!

Thu, 26 Apr 2007 22:44:05 GMT

(Or why I will never study.)

Today is marks day at the ol' uni. and out of sheer morbid curiosity I checked mine to see how poorly I had done.
The reason for this is two fold. 1) I didn't really try AT ALL this semester. Seriously, even less time was spent this semester. Essays done the night before, unedited and improperly referenced. ...yadda yadda. Not a single second spent in studying. (Though I do read all my books cause that's the fun part.)

Despite my best attempts to do poorly I still have full and complete acceptance into any english masters program in Canada. WHICH IS BAD. Because the last thing I want to do is an MA in English. I don't want to go near a friggin gradschool. I want: Own house, Job, Girl, Published novels.

I'm giving thought to...not even showing up for class some semester, but that would cause my head to 'asplode.

Feel free to direct your hate and ire this way. Cause this is what I have to bitch about. "Oh poor boy, doesn't have to work."

On the plus side it supports my theory that this is mostly a waste of time and money,

And we're back.

Sat, 21 Apr 2007 05:52:51 GMT

Arrgh! Some idiot at Rogers broke the Internet...so I can't post my picture! (EDIT) Ah there we go.

Alright, feeling better. But I gotta ask, how come every time some fucktard decides to go postal and shoot up a school they are 1) My age/Majoring in the same field/described as a "quiet loner who keeps to themself"

Sheesh...just because I may occassionally want to kill a whole bunch of people, doesn't mean I would ever actually do it. Can't these people see past their own little problems and consider the damage they're doing? Haven't they heard of paintball...or...I dunno GTA or something...yeesh.

Yeah reading the list of character traits when I took serial murder really freaked me out. *shudder*

Yay! The students are leaving! The students are leaving! The library is quiet again.

Update

Thu, 19 Apr 2007 23:54:33 GMT

I'm updating to say there is no update. I'm caught in a funk of apathy and dreams of ceasing to be. Sooner or later the mood will pass and I'll be filled with creative juice, wondering once more how I let myself get so down. Ah cyclical life. We now return you to your day.

It may just be my virus infected mind....

Fri, 13 Apr 2007 05:19:32 GMT

Second Chance

Mon, 09 Apr 2007 17:19:10 GMT

EDIT I tried to post this two days ago, but the browser crashed and I was pissed off. So when I decided "Alright I'll try again" the site had saved it yay! Thanks LJ...this is my first attempt with multiple cuts, so if it doesn't work and you end up with a big long post...um...oops.

So Aaron published three of my articles in one issue, following having done two previously. Not that I'm complaining, but people seem to notice these things when they travel in packs. Anyhoo since I am an attention whore, I shall post the most recent 5 here.
(Incidentally a couple had their titles changed. Or in other words using the "More Than Meets The Eye" cliche was not my idea.)

Heh, I just love it when they say "Lucky Duck" in Hard Knock Life.

In other news...go-go-gadget immune system, cause me throat is cough-tastic.

Good luck on your exams/papers/summery plans.

We’re Number...wait...what?

Now admittedly math was never my favorite subject, though I do understand the beauty of having a confirmed, 100% right answer. But bear with me while a do some calculations. 4, 909 divided into 17, 000...no wait reverse that...4, 909 divided by 17, 000...yeah there we go...round up the eight...ah 29%...yup still PATHETIC!

Essentially what we’ve said is, we don’t mind 29% of the people speaking for the other 71% of us. That can’t go wrong. By the way, your tuition is going up, you’re welcome, if you’d bothered to read the questions on the ballot you’d know why.

Seriously, could they have made it easier to vote in the CSA elections this year? All you needed was five minutes, the Internet, and to remember your student number. I can do that, and I can barely remember what we talked about in lecture last time. Voting was open all week, there was even a little booth in the UC where you could vote. Still not easy enough? Okay, check this out: You didn’t even have to vote for any of the candidates. In fact, you didn’t have to vote for any of the issues either, you could just, abstain from everything. But apparently that was too hard for all less than a third of us.

If this were my parents (sorry folks) I could understand, they didn’t grow up with the Internet, so obviously it can be confusing for them. But you did, and you know you did. And if you didn’t (which I doubt, there must’ve been a school or a library SOMEWHERE in your past) you’ve certainly used it since you got to the university.

Hey I understand voter apathy, I don’t like/trust other people to make decisions on my behalf...but generally I’ve got better things to do, (things like papers, and seminars, or lets be blunt, I’ve got Lost to watch) so why not let someone else handle the decisions. Isn’t that why they thought up democracy in the first place? Or why they tell us they did? People had shit to do, and it was more pressing in their lives. People couldn’t take the time out to get all the information they needed to make an informed decision on every issue, so other people were willing to pick up the slack.

Good thing it wasn’t a federal election eh, good thing one of the questions wasn’t "How do you feel about doubling tuition" or "How would you like to go fight in Iraq?" I bet that would’ve gotten people’s attention.

I mean seriously, how many of us spent a good chunk of time procrastinating on Facebook, or MSN messenger, or something like that? With the exception of a few Ludites I know in history programs-and only, apparently in history programs-who don’t use those, I’d wager...80%

So we couldn’t spend five, maybe ten minutes of that time filling out the ballot. Well I think that says something about us. Cause I know for a fact there are people willing to risk their lives just for the opportunity to vote. Seriously, going out of their houses, being at a polling station, could get them killed.

Or, to use an old cliche, what about those folks who died in the second world war to protect our right to self-determination? People our ages and younger who gave up their entire futures so that (among other things) we could vote, we few, we happy few lucky enough to attend this university.

Now if you’ll excuse me, I’ve gotta go watch the Simpson’s...I don’t want to miss Ralph saying "Oh, I bent my Wookie."

Make Stupidity History

I think advocacy groups are wonderful things, they allow people to try and make a difference, and get out important messages that, lets face it, we might be too busy/lazy to look into on our own. That said sometimes you gotta wonder at the logic that goes into some campaigns.

Remember a few years ago when those Lance Armstrong bracelets were big? The ones made by Nike? Well as much as I liked the idea of fighting cancer...I also wanted to fight human rights violations, and since Nike is really good at committing those....

The same was true of the Make Poverty History bracelets...a couple years ago I was offered one at a movie screening, I declined. It clearly said Made In China. (Okay actually that memory is fuzzy. I THINK it said that I might be wrong.) But isn’t supporting the poverty in China kinda...counter-productive?

Or how bout those nifty Vagina...I mean pinwheels, that the Vagina Monologues presented in association with SAFE. I completely support an end to violence against women who are not in the act of trying to kill me. But where did those 4000 colorful pinwheels come from? How much were the workers who made them paid? Are we just supporting one kind of badness in our attempts to end another?

The argument I usually hear to support items made in sweatshops is "But the companies are improving the standard of living in those countries." And that may be true, if you don’t have a job getting six cents an hour is better than nothing right? But then...how would you feel if it were you? You’d be pretty pissed off, I would be, not to mention hungry.

To my mind the practice of Outsourcing (going to a country with a lower standard of living, where the people will work for hundreds of times less what they would in North America) shares a lot of things with slavery.

Sometimes its our own fault. When Imperial Tobacco in Guelph closed last year I was shocked to hear what the averages wages were. Frankly I think they let their union price themselves right out of a job.

This is one of those problems that only exists because we let it exist. The great thing (if you can call it that) about most companies, is that all they want to do is get our money, and as long as we keep giving it to them they’re happy. Which brings us to possibly the only real power we have, the power to control our money. We can vote with our wallets, if want a company to act in an humane/environmentally conscious/ethical way, all we have to do is let them know that we’d happily buy their products if they play by our rules. Conversely we can form groups to organize boycotts.

Now granted this is an oversimplification, obviously getting someone working two minimum wage jobs, and trying to raise their kids to stop shopping at Wal-mart is very unlikely, but as members of a privileged class, someone has to set an example. Any change will be slow, and ultimately probably rewarding.

Fluff Piece

Twenty-years ago I watched one of my heroes die. Above all he desired peace, but he understood that peace doesn’t come without sacrifice, and that sometimes one has to be willing to fight to protect the people they love. I saw charge into battle, against...a dozen enemies? I saw him mortally wounded as he fought honorably, and turned the tide. My hero was a warrior, a leader, and a truck.

*Sigh* Yes, I can hear you groaning. Yes, my hero was Optimus Prime.

My hero never really existed, he was a cartoon, and the voice of an actor. He was only a story. But we, and many of you will agree, are caught up in stories. They shape our lives, they teach us things, they expand our understanding of the world, and fire our imaginations.

Yes, sometimes they sell us toys, but that doesn’t mean that’s all they are.

Like I said Optimus died to protect the people he loved from harm, he gave his life so that others didn’t have to. (I don’t know how many years after I really heard about that Jesus guy, but I understood the sacrifice of Prime.) Of course the great thing about being a robot is its much easier to be resurrected after a few months of being dead. And then, he sacrificed himself AGAIN to save lives. Now that’s a hard model to live up to.

You may have heard that they’re making a live-action Transformers move, I’d say over-excited is putting it mildly in my case.

Now there are always purists, whether it be we music, or books, or plays, or any other thing that you can think of. People who have a certain image in their head of what someone should be, how they should look, or act. We all have our own version, our own vision, and when someone else interprets it, and changes our own...well it can be irritating.

The movie, which will feature the original voice actors of Optimus Prime, and his nemesis Megatron, has to take creative liberties. Paint jobs are changed, and Megatron is no longer a gun. Now I think that was done because of technical problems, he had to shrink to reach that size, which we accept in a cartoon, but are we as willing to accept in a feature? He will be a plane instead. Stylisicly I think this is a great change. A gun is usually a personal weapon, albeit a frightening one. To shoot someone involved a closeness which can portray a sense of menace no doubt. A plane, is more symbolic of detachment, a more antiseptic form of destruction, the killer doesn’t get involved personally, which denotes a dehumanization. It’s more chilling, and much more frightening to have anonymous death fall from the sky. It’s more current to consider that kind of warfare.

Also a plane is a much cooler toy...how does a gun fight a truck anyway?.

Of course I do have to come back to reality. If someone had told me as a child that my favorite toy was being made by a little boy my age working in a factory, how would I have reacted? I don’t know.

Rather than leave such a down ending I’ll say this: Ten years ago...I was in one of those big music stores in TO and the movie where Optimus died had just been released. They were playing it on all the screens of the store, and I was surprised to see men (and women) much older than me, and younger, all stopped as the death scene, faces upturned with looks of remembrance on their faces. And I knew that more than one of them had misty eyes, I sure did.

Won’t Someone PLEASE Think of the Children?!

It's common knowledge that celebrities are idiots. Especially actors.
In fact as an actor myself I can tell you that most of the people I’ve worked with aren’t brain surgeons for a reason. (I’m joking, don’t throw things.)

But celebrities get in the papers more often than we do, and one of the reasons is because of some of the names they give to their children.

A rose by any other name would still smell as sweet? Of course ask anyone named Gaylord what they think about that statement, if you can find them.

Now I've never been particularly fond of my name. (feel free to make the Lord
Voldemort comparison) because it's so common. It was, in fact, the top 10 common North American boys names the year I was born. My parents didn’t know that, they just liked the name Christopher. (Also it means Christ Bearer, which is not an apt description of me, and since they de-sainted Christopher as patron of travelers it’s really not as cool as it once was.)

But I gotta wonder about some of the names people give their children. Randy, for one. (One of my best friends growing up was named Randy. He caught some flack for that name.) Also, Willy, Dick, Horace, and I would imagine anyone named Homer, Marge, or Bart.

But back to the celebs. I’m undecided about Apple Paltrow...its kinda grown on me as being not too odd. Now Kal-El Cage...that one I worry about. Kal-El, which is Superman’s Kryptonian name for those of you who aren’t big nerds like Nicolas and I-Nick actually picked his name Cage from another comic character. Real name? Coppola but he didn’t want to trade on his uncle Francis’s fame. I think being named Kal-El would be awesome, but I don’t have to go through kindergarten or highschool with it.

There’s a great Johnny Cash song called "A Boy Named Sue" that argues the name was to help the kid get tough to survive the world. Okay valid point. Still I wonder what Moon Unit Zappa thinks about it all.

How to run a proper scam

This is a public service announcement for all the people who like to keep their study rooms in the library beyond the two hours, during peak times. Here’s how to accomplish it.

Step 1. Find a friend.

Step 2. Get that friend to return to the room key. (Do be seen with this friend, stagger your approach, the people working the reserve desk are not stupid. In fact some of them are a lot smarter than YOU since they are, in fact, ME.)

Step 3. Once that friend is successfully out of the visual range, nonchalantly ask for a study room key. DO NOT ask for a specific room, this will raise suspicions.

Step 4. Giggle at pulling off the perfect crime...jackass.

What you think that’s unfair? Well what do you want me to do about it? I’m not all-seeing. If you want a room you’re going to have to make sure people don’t do that.

Which brings me to today’s topic, If I don't get caught...is it still wrong?

This is sticky-wicket, as they say. Were I a defense lawyer, I would have to say nope. (But I’d be saying that in attorney client privilege...after making sure you weren’t wearing a wire.)

Luckily I’m not a lawyer, so I’m going to say YES. Sadly, coming to that conclusion forced me to stop downloading music without paying for it. (Sigh, you have no idea how much I could accomplish if it weren’t for this darned conscience.)

I’m sure anyone who has after considered cheating on...an exam, their taxes, a significant other, has used that or any other justification to do it. (I mean hey, how much of our money does the government waste right? Right?)

Or there’s my favorite. "Well I’m in school to improve my intelligence, so if I can cheat without getting caught aren’t I proving I’m smarter than the people testing me?" Yeah, you can justify pretty much anything with logic, which is why its so much fun, and annoying.

MP3 file-sharing caught on mostly based on the justification that the record companies were overcharging us for the music. (Which they were, unfortunately it had the side effect of screwing over the artists that created the music in the first place.)

Now I could say that as an artist myself, the act of creating the music, or literature, or a painting, is its own-reward and making money is just a bonus. And that’s okay for me, I have a day job to support my art, but I can’t really force other artists to accept my point of view. (There’s that conscience again!)

Now I’m not saying I’m perfect, in fact, I’ve probably committed more crimes throughout my lifetime than most of you good people. (When you’re young and bored you have to make your own fun.) But I don’t do it anymore, partly because I know it’s wrong, it can hurt people. Partly because I had such a good run that the odds of getting caught one day were rising exponentially. I attribute it also to my ability to suppress the need for attention, the one that goes "But what fun is committing the perfect crime without being able to TELL anyone about it?"

Which may lead to some really interesting memoirs to be published after my death.

Fosey Fosey Fosey

Wed, 04 Apr 2007 23:33:38 GMT

There are few days that cannont be improved with the addition of broadway musicals. However, I'm sadened that the score from Annie on iTunes, isn't the movie, Carol Burnett was fabulous as Miss. Hannigan, and I just learned that Albert Finney, Tim Curry and Bernedette Peters were in it. (I was too young to know who any of those people were I suppose.)

Okay, now I gotta do that 6 page paper. Hmm...do I try a nap first?

Be varwy varwy quiet

Sun, 01 Apr 2007 00:15:34 GMT

Know what these are?

You will......

Save Me Chocolate Jeebus

Fri, 30 Mar 2007 21:26:32 GMT

Actually given the rampant commercialism that surrounds most Christian holy-days, I'd say this is art I can understand.
As for the anotomical correctness, well shoot folks I know you might not want to think about Jesus taking a leak by the side of the road, but I doubt very much that it didn't happen.

http://www.denverpost.com/ci_5549559

THAT'S ALL YOU GET! (I was too lazy to link my last pair of articles, I'll rectify that...sometime after these papers are finished, also there will be a photo of a balloon chicken.)

Sweet

Wed, 21 Mar 2007 14:48:07 GMT

Ball State University does in fact have appearal that says BSU which I think is a good logo to have.

That was too vague.

Sat, 17 Mar 2007 03:29:54 GMT

James Gardner as Brett Maverick. (The one who wasn't anti-semetic) Brett. Join facebook, you're too not communicating.

Maverick

Thu, 15 Mar 2007 19:05:22 GMT

Get on it. ^ Everyone else is joining facebook.