Infatuation : What's this? Did I get you, my loyal stalkers, something for christmas?

Why yes, I did! Take a peek at the webcam section.
10:24 PM ::Comment::

 
Convival : Nope, sure don't really like this time of year.

I like new years though... Who wants to do something for new years? I'm thinking it's a good time for Hellsing.


Merry whatever, or something. I'm being insincere anyway, so what do you care?


I'm a bitter anti-christ... mas. I don't actually mind the season, and holiday, and I got some neat stuff. Here's a list so you can go "Wow, I got so much better stuff than him!" and then mock me about it, and I'll call you shallow and make you feel bad. Then you'll give me your stuff in the spirit of Christmas. I always have a plan.

Well, here's the crap I got. Crap isn't derogatory in this case. I like all of it.

• Black Dressy Shirt - Just like the one I was wearing last week as a jacket.
  
• Longsleeve - Black, white pattern. Very cool.
  
• Track Pants - I'm not quite clear on why I got these. At least I have some now.
  
• Belt - Look at me! I'm conforming! Naww, I like it.
  
• Adidas Shaving Kit - I now associate Adidas with sport and skin care.
  
• Travel Alarm Clock - What are they trying to say?
  
• Bath Robe - YES! No more threadbare piece of shit.
  

That's everything. From my direct family anyway, I'll make a second list when I get stuff from non-direct-family. Not that any of you jerks got me anything. Unless you did, in which case you'll be on the next list won't you?

• Tuxedo - Anna - Just plain awesome. Does it need explaining?
  
• Books - Uncle Tilo - Excession, and Consider Phlebas by Iain M. Banks.
  
• Book - Grandparents - Blind Lake by Robert Charles Wilson
  
• Money - People of the world - The current sum of money from various people is $300.
  
• The REST of you are Jerks!
  

Oh, the reason my stuff is open on Dec. 24 is in the German tradition you open your gifts on Christmas Eve after dinner.


If I'm looking particularily good, you can thank the fine folks at Adidas.
5:40 PM ::Comment::

 
Indifference : I'm not in the mood to make a post, nor am I in a mood not to.

Either way, rather than think of something to say I'll just ridicule something else. It's easier.

I watched Return of the King on Wednesday, and it was very very good. Best of the series. When I got home, of course people asked, and someone pointed me to a review by Macleans. This review.

How is it possible for someone with writing talent, but nothing else, get so far? Macleans is respectable. Mr. Johnson there is talking out of his ass. It's quite funny I must admit, but nonetheless. Why did they run such crap? Someone with nothing to say, and furthermore someone who doesn't know what he's saying shouldn't be allowed to write anything that would be seen by more than a handful of people.

Lets see what he has to say...

• "The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King, a conflagration that gathers from clashes of armoured cavalry, giant battering rams and catapults of fire to a full-bore apocalyptic cleansing." This war movie has too much war! They should have NOT followed the plot of the books and made it happier, for Christmas! So the Christmas bit isn't in what he said there, but it is in what he said in the article.
  
  
• "I've tried hard to give the LOTR trilogy the benefit of the doubt. Though not a fan of Tolkien or of special effects" I went in biased, but I really did try not to. Why are you writing a review of something you're biased against? "I personally loathe westerns, and I didn't like that western!" Certainly must love the sound of his own voice, or keyboard as it may be.
  
  
• "I felt I'd been through a fundamentalist crusade in which the forces of light, and the West -- a lot of earnest, attractive folks with blue eyes -- go to war against dark and ugly races." Don't you dare think the good guys are good! Nooo, they're Nazis! Nazis killing minorities! Christian Nazis too! Yeah! I'm not kidding, he says it. I don't even have to make fun of him for that.
  
  
• "In that sense, the third movie is the story, and it makes the first two movies seem like mere appetizers." Right. Just like the entire story of the third book is completely irrelevant except for the sentence where the ring actually falls in.
  
  
• "Two other women have a token presence" Token women? You expected a story that is quite obviously, or so I thought, not modern times to be a wondrous example of sexual equality? Just like it was back in the dark ages. The women were allowed to ride into battle back then! Fine Eowyn's role was a little downplayed, but guess what? If you fleshed out every concept in the series it would balloon to something even more monstrous, and threaten to swallow the sun.
  
  
• "Gollum's speech, like his body, is so twisted that it almost needs subtitles" He's very very legible, why is it that only you can't understand him?
  
  
• "the bond between them (Sam and Frodo), magnified from the book, becomes weirdly homoerotic." Great, now Frodo's gay. Really, you found the hidden message.
  
  
• "With Sam as his steadfast sergeant, literally carrying him through hell, the delicate Frodo writhes in sensual torment -- an iconic Christ figure burdened by a ring instead of a cross." Okay, so what are we at with the symbolism now? Frodo is a Sensual Gay Nazi Jesus fighting against minorities? I thought that was self evident? I could have pointed out that Frodo's apparently Christian too, but I thought it was redundant. Jesus was a Jew though, so maybe I should have? Now we'll never know.
  
  
• I should quote the entire last paragraph, and take it apart word for word, but by now the humour of the article has worn off and I'm annoyed with it. Let's just say this; he bashes the movie for being pro-war, it's Oliphant not Mumakil, nowhere in Pirates of the Caribbean was there a fluorescent green zombie, never is a god mentioned, so no religiosity is possible, you spent the entire review complaining and then finish with it's powerful, and the director is brilliant. Nice try, but you're not redeemed.

Thank you, you can go home now Brian. I did that in a single skim through, this is why arguing with me is a very stupid idea. That's the only warning you get! I tried to limit personal attacks, it was difficult. You can probably guess why.
10:43 PM ::Comment::

 
Bout : Gather round and be regailed with the tales of the ancient days of two weeks ago. On an illustrious and rainy thursday a lone traveller flew into Vancouver airport. Without a fuss he was picked up in a silver BMW and finished the last leg of his journey. To my home. Hans had arrived. The next da, after much duck hunting the night was passed. The following day a Daria was also added to the mix. Sadly the potent ingredient Katy was disallowed to be a member of the mix.

Duck hunting was still fun. We watched some Nightrider as well. Why do they call it Nightrider? The Driver guy is named Night, and the car is named Kip. Why isn't it Kiprider? Besides because it's stupid of course.

On saturday the tournament began in earnest. This is about a fencing tournament fyi. A big one too, very big, one of the two largest in Canada.

Either way, the end result of saturday was that I came in 5th in junior. That's insanely good, especially considering I hadn't trained for over a month beforehand.

Sunday the fencing was not so good. I'm writing the result off. I sucked.


Ah screw telling this story, I don't remember really. Go to hell, I can not tell you stuff all I want.
8:44 PM ::Comment::

 
Karma: or Look at me, having my work stolen for once. : You guys haven't done your summary of Strangelove yet have you? Well, I'm here to bail you out. Without further ado, my review, actually, one more ado. Don't steal the good bits that you didn't even start to conceive. Or if you do, credit me.



General Jack D. Ripper, interesting name, goes insane and seals off Burpelson Air Base, confiscates all the on base radios, and orders a bomber wing to attack the Soviet Union. The attack plan calls for a total shutout of non-coded radio communications, making contact nearly impossible. The U.S. President Merkin J. Muffley calls an emergency meeting on how to address this event, which could start an all out nuclear war with the U.S.S.R. Options are discussed, and the Russian ambassador is called in.
The ambassador initially attempts to take pictures of the war room, but is foiled. The Russian president is put on the hot line, and after much deliberation a plan to call back as many bombers as possible, and shoot down the remaining is set into plan. This is all made more difficult by the fact that the Russian president is drunk.

All the planes have to be stopped, because should a single bomb hit the U.S.S.R their doomsday device will be set off, and the world will come to an end at the hands of nuclear fallout. Interestingly enough a defensive weapon designed to instill fear, and prevent attacks, such as this one, is of course forgotten to be publicized. Rather than knowledge made available that they have it, and then never building it. They built it, but neglected to mention it. None of the deterrent, yet all the apocalypse.

During this discussion we're introduced to Dr. Strangelove himself. A top military advisor with an arm quite beyond his control. Not only does it constantly steal his cigarette, it also attempts to perform a Nazi salute every chance it gets. The council is a group of blundering fools, advised by an insane German scientist.

Another interesting fellows in the war room are General Buck Turgidson. Who decides it would be best to let the bombers attack, and destroy most of Russia's nuclear capability in advance. Before knowledge of the Doomsday device is available. He vehemently opposes the admittance of the Russian ambassador, on the grounds that he'll "see the big board". The big board being the map of the world with little lights where their bombers are. When the Russian ambassador is admitted Buck covers all his books with his arms. Including a guide to acting insterestingly enough.

Burpelson is under attack by the Presidents forces, in an attempt to retrieve the recall code. The troops at Burpelson of course think it's those "damn atheist commies". A firefight obviously ensues. Lionel Mandrak, a British liaison officer, tries to convince Jack to give him the codes to call back the bombers. Jack reveals that the communists have long been attacking the US through extremely hidden means. Fluoridation being the communist plot. He felt a "loss of essence" while making love to a women, and this is, logically of course, what he blames. There is the obvious joke about what the "loss of essence" means, but I think the actual intent was in fact that he had trouble performing, and the massive paranoia he was raised with led him to blame the communists. The destruction of the U.S.S.R. is his midlife crisis, rather than just buying a sports car like normal people.

Having explained the communist plot Jack, politely, steps into the bathroom and, politely, blows his head off. Luckily the code is left on the table, after a fashion, and Colonel Mandrake is able to figure it out. As soon as this is achieved Col. Guano breaks in and captures Mandrake.

Luckily for the world Mandrake convinces Guano to allow him to use a phone to call the president, and give him the codes. All the bombers are recalled, or shot down. Or so we think, then it's revealed that one had avoided being shot, and it's radio destroyed from it's near end. Unable to be recalled it carries on to its target. The plane is damaged, and the bomb has to be manually dropped, jumping up and down on the latch is a good way to do it, and in a scene familiar to most the phallic bomb is ridden, cowboy hat in hand, straight to the ground.

The Russian doomsday device is triggered, and the world comes to a spectacular end. Deep underground the president discusses how to repopulate the earth, and Dr. Strangelove rises from his chair and declares "Mein Fuhrer, I can walk!"


A brilliant satire about the nature of power, the absurdity of the cold war, reliance on machines, and our misguided trust in human nature, I recommend this movie to anyone with a taste for dark humour. The entire movie is meant to be ironic, right down to the music (we'll meet again is played to the destruction of the earth) and disconcerting, sadly the humour, and the fact that the cold war is over, leaves the movie as less of a warning and more of a comedy without a happy ending.

As a fun sidenote Buck's secretary appears in the playboy centerfold seen at the beginning of the movie.
11:50 PM ::Comment::

 
Deride : I'm always dissapointed when I visit something I had expected to see updated, only to discover no change of any sort. Dissapointed, annoyed, and almost betrayed.

Well, that's all.
2:18 AM ::Comment::

 
Hereafter : Now my promise shall be fulfilled. I shall tell you of my weekend.. two weeks ago, now that I don't really remember much about it. Anyway, I had wanted to take the 3pm ferry so that I could be there in time for fencing, but then I'd have to miss a bit of school, which was out of the question of course. So instead I went to class late (thank you driving lesson) and left early, to pack. I was there a total of 15 minutes.

Ferrys suck when you're alone, they're boring.

I watched a total of five movies during my stay, three the first night (back to back to back) and two the next. I suppose there is to be no rest for the wicked, and I am pretty awesome. Other than that, I didn't really do much on the island, except come back.


I am now the proud owner of a double breasted custom fit tuxedo. I placed my little toy Walther PPK in one of the inside pockets. It just didn't feel right without it.


I am the proud owner of the best summer job on earth. Let's break it down.

$21/hr, I only work days I want to, 12% bonus because we work holidays, despite that I can simply say no to a shift, double time during overtime, and most of my shifts are 12 hours.

I work in the movie industry, I carry things, and clean up. I don't even really have to work, I can pretend it's beyond me, and then they get me something easier to do, like pick up coffee from Tim Hortons.
1:48 AM ::Comment::