mikailborg: I can't even remember what event I was attending, but I must have been taking it seriously. (orbiting)
Sometimes, people post things on the Internet that just plain make me feel glad to be living in a world where someone spent the time to make them up.

The "Lions In Kenya" and "Shirley Bassey Getting the Party Started" videos are two examples. Here's another:



I successfully stayed up all night on Saturday night. We decided that our level 56-ers needed to hit 58 This Weekend, which we reached about 6 am. It was nice to know that I can still do that... a year of 10pm bedtimes had left me doubtful. Still, I had to down several Tums, as one of the tricks my body uses to try to get me to go to bed is surges of stomach acid. Also, I was kind of out of it the next day; so, I've learned from this that I can do it, but not easily.

Found a website that generates an automatically updated stat block I can use for my characters, like so...

Baldricus!

Too bad that the servers are now far too overloaded with requests to actually function properly. (This one won't update, it's static.)

Local TV re-ran the Special Edition "Trouble With Tribbles" this weekend, so last night I dug out the "Trials And Tribble-ations" DS9 episode for Starr, who'd never seen it. Great fun! And then it hit me... there's no way in heck that J.J. Abrams' Lt. Uhura will be running around in that red minidress. Not in a 2008 feature film. I weep.
mikailborg: I can't even remember what event I was attending, but I must have been taking it seriously. (space_tech)
We had a guest over last night... are having more guests this weekend... and are planning on seeing [livejournal.com profile] shrewlet, [livejournal.com profile] rhaps, and [livejournal.com profile] meiran in the next month. So this last week, we cleaned up the apartment.

Between possibly the most serious cleaning we've done since we moved here, and the ongoing stuff reduction program (I need to find shipping boxen for [livejournal.com profile] cjmr's and [livejournal.com profile] rattrap's models ASAP), the place looks practically new. The lighting's better now. I can get into my bed without sidling past bookcases. All of the rooms in the place are suddenly fully usable. Heck, after tonight's effort I might be able to admit people into my computer office without embarrassment. My 'house' is clean.

What an odd experience.

Tonight they start filming a movie here on base. I didn't quite get around to sending them a glossy, and I'm not sure I've got the 70's look they're after, so I don't get to be one of the extras. The film's got Cameron Diaz in it... somehow I don't think she'll be swinging by. All I'm getting out of this is the mandatory opportunity to park my clearly 21st-century car another block-and-a-half from work. Ah, well. Exercise.
mikailborg: I can't even remember what event I was attending, but I must have been taking it seriously. (orbiting)
Started off the weekend with a fever on Friday, caused probably by having to run around in the cold cold rain on Thursday. But I medicated the heck out of myself, and was well enough to travel with Starr to Williamsburg on Friday for MarsCon.

Most conventions are, for me, opportunities to socialize with friends I don't often get to see. [livejournal.com profile] southernsinger, [livejournal.com profile] kittykatya, [livejournal.com profile] impink, [livejournal.com profile] geckoman, and [livejournal.com profile] stori_lundi were all there, as well as folks I get to see a little more often such as [livejournal.com profile] ptownhiker, [livejournal.com profile] fixitup, and [livejournal.com profile] torn757. Got to spend some quality time with Jesse and Dwight too!

Convention loot: a Devil's Panties graphic novel (Jennie Breeden remembered me from Dragon*Con), character sketches from an artist in the dealer's room, a Carcassonne expansion and an book of Paranoia XP modules, two White Plectrum CDs and a Coyote Run CD, some erotica from Helen Madden's table, and a couple of buttons. After spending the weekend avoiding the purchase of T-shirts, Starr and I were handed free ones by a local game store - now I have to get rid of more old ones to make space!

Next year, the con is supposed to move to a bigger location, and it really needs the space. MarsCon completely overflowed its host hotel, which is a shame, as I think it's a nice place to hold the weekend. I got to hear some other VA con politics I didn't want to hear about, but that's the down side of having friends who are so heavily involved in things.

Speaking of being involved, this was the first time I can recall having my con badge paid for as a "Guest" presenter. I have to say I found it very cool, though somehow I had always imagined it would be for my Great American Science Fiction Novel. Still, the panels (which I talk a bit more about in the Lifestyle filter) were great fun, and I can't wait to do them again next year.

We'd really intended to stay longer on Sunday, but despite finally getting the MarsCon Charity Chair Massage I'd been wanting to try for years, we had a bad case of burnout. Excitement, dancing, endorphins, and little sleep all hit at once, and Starr and I headed home around 1:30 to veg for the rest of the day. Still haven't quite come down though. How long 'till T-Con?

Oh, by the way, for people who didn't go see Cloverfield, or restrained themselves from visiting YouTube this weekend, here's the new Trek movie trailer. Total geekgasm.
mikailborg: I can't even remember what event I was attending, but I must have been taking it seriously. (orbiting)
J.J. Adams builds his Enterprise

I was figuring that J.J. Abrams' Enterprise might look like almost anything, but it seems here that he's sticking fairly close to the Original Series look... with a touch of Movie Era thrown in for that big-screen feel. It's as if he knew exactly what would get him the most points from me. (You can click the pic to embiggen.)

Also, the cast photos from the same AOL site show the casting for Christopher Pike, and George and Winona Kirk. While the producers of this film claim not to be hardcore Trekkers, it looks like they care enough to go do a bit of research.
mikailborg: I can't even remember what event I was attending, but I must have been taking it seriously. (decipher)
Definitely a traditional Christmas for me... History and Science channels on the tube, wrapping presents for others while being unable to wait to unwrap ours :)

My Munchkin collection is looking healthier! Starr gave me Munchkin Impossible and Munchkin Cthulhu I & II... now we have to invite someone over to play them with us. 2-handed Munchkin is much less fun.

Back in my Decipher days, Justin taught me how to play Carcassonne, and I've been wanting a copy for the years since. Never managed to pick it up, but I knew it was fun to play, so I picked up a set as a Christmas present for [livejournal.com profile] raininva when I heard she was gaming again. Well, guess what other game I got yesterday :) Already broken it in, too. Fun!

Take the Sci fi sounds quiz I received 85 credits on
The Sci Fi Sounds Quiz

How much of a Sci-Fi geek are you?
Take the Sci-Fi Movie Quizdigital camera ratings


I had a little trouble with some of the older movies I haven't seen yet...
mikailborg: I can't even remember what event I was attending, but I must have been taking it seriously. (Default)
  • 08:01 Lovely evening last night. Great early Xmas present, good company, "Chicken Run". Even got a decent night's sleep! #
  • 14:24 Randomly met two fandom friends at lunch... knew they worked here, but hadn't seen them in months in or outside or work. Nice! #
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mikailborg: I can't even remember what event I was attending, but I must have been taking it seriously. (wasteland)
With the released news that Peter Jackson will once again be working on "The Hobbit", the "OMG Jackson got Lord of the Rings ALL WRONG!!!" people have come back out of the woodwork.

Of course, in fandom, the concept "I would have liked if Jackson had done x differently" is the same as "He completely screwed it up, he ruined the books for me forever, I had to burn my copies afterwards!" This is crap. If you want to see LotR completely screwed up, Ralph Bakshi can help there. Jackson didn't even come close.

Y'know, I would have liked it if the last "Pirates of the Carribean" movie had done some things differently. I still had a good time in the theater, and felt like my cash was not ill-spent. I'll probably go see number four when it inevitably gets made. There's a difference here.

I still say the same thing to these flamers: a whiny blog post doesn't cut it. Write your script, get the budget, assemble the creative team, hire actors, film your work, get it edited and scored, and get it distributed, and gather widespread critical acclaim. Winning 13 Academy Awards is not necessary, though it won't hurt anything. Once you've done that, I'll allow that yes indeed, you might be able to make a better LotR than Peter Jackson.

And I'll gleefully read all the posts from all the fans letting the world know that yes, you too have completely screwed up The Lord of the Rings.
mikailborg: Chris drew this picture of my first Starfleet character for a newsletter cover, years ago. (kriet)
It seems that actor Chris Pine is up for the part of Captain James Kirk in the upcoming Trek movie. Among other named participants are Zoe Saldana as Uhura, and Zachary Quinto as Spock. Looking pretty good, so far.

"You've wrecked my childhood!" is a phrase oft heard on the Internet, when the new remake of a favorite property comes along. Most recently, some Transformers fans screamed it to anyone who would listen. I can't help but think that these people show a disappointing level of perspective; who over the age of 20 hasn't picked up an old book, or the DVD of an old movie, and discovered that it just doesn't speak to them the way it did all those years ago?

I recently acquired the first season of "Battle of the Planets": an anime import about a team of bird-costumed super-ninjas in a rocket-jet fighting a high-tech criminal syndicate. It suffered from translation; the translators were forced to make massive cuts of violence and teenage-level plot points while adding in footage of a cute robot and space travel. Imagine that someone had told you that, for Freedonian broadcast, classic Trek had to be cut to 30 minutes per episode, never leave Earth's solar system, and ditch the pointy-ear guy.

I loved "Battle of the Planets" when I was 8. I made paper airplane versions of the hero's razor-edged jet boomerang, tinfoil helmets, and beach towel capes. Finally seeing it again all these years later was fun, but I couldn't help but admit that I was no longer able to appreciate it the way I once could, and that was okay. The upcoming live-action movie will probably be a tiny bit more mature; and I won't complain at all about all the things they got "wrong".

Or at least not very much.
mikailborg: I can't even remember what event I was attending, but I must have been taking it seriously. (passing)
One of the blogs I read is full of people who, for the last week or so, have been making cheesy Inigo Montoya jokes.

After Cthulhu Montoya "The stars are right again; prepare to die!" came this jewel:

The Princess Bride of Frankenstein: "My name isz Viktor Montoya. You killed my fazzer. But now I bring him back to LIFE!"
mikailborg: I can't even remember what event I was attending, but I must have been taking it seriously. (mecha)
On the "Robotech" movie Tobey Maguire's producing:

I would love to see a good Robotech movie. I don't even mind if Maguire plays Rick Hunter - they could do worse.

Last I heard the property was in Licensing Rights Hell. I will believe this is actually in production when reliable on-set reports start filtering out.

I'm not worried about whether the script will be more faithful to Robotech or Macross. When the studio suits are done with it, it will more resemble the Go-Bots. "Geez, you idiot fanboys, it's just a cartoon." Otaku who thought that Peter Jackson was spawn of Satan will be utterly enraged, burning down message boards across the 'Tubes.

Minmei will no longer be Chinese, or ethnic in any way. (Claudia Grant, either.) She will be played by some losing American Idol finalist who will produce a soundtrack album of mildly grating, forgettable songs; this will put her ahead of poor Reba West but still behind Mari Iijima.

The iconic VF-1 Valkyrie, one of the most believable and good-looking transforming mecha in anime history, will no longer strongly resemble an F-14 Tomcat; but be based off of an F-22 Raptor or some Wing Commander refugee, whose transformation sequence only works if you look at something else for several seconds in the middle. ("Hey, where'd Optimus Prime's trailer go, anyway?") The SDF-1 Macross will probably fare little better.

Finally, I'm sure I'll see it at least twice and buy the DVD.

So who would you cast for the main characters? (I just had this mental picture of The Rock as Breetai, which horrified me initially, but is slowly growing on me.)
mikailborg: I can't even remember what event I was attending, but I must have been taking it seriously. (rabbiteer)
I had occasion last night to reflect on how incredible my friends are.

It's been one crisis after another for the last four months, and at every turn, someone's stepped up and had my back. I don't think there can be many people out there as lucky as me.

Once again, furniture had to be moved, this time with about 45 minutes notice. To my great surprise, [livejournal.com profile] ptownhiker, [livejournal.com profile] fixitup, and Dwight all showed up and were rewarded with booze, food, and Radar Men From the Moon.

You guys are all wonderful. Not just the three who were here last night, but all of you.

Yes, I'm mushy tonight.

EDIT: Oh, I almost forgot: Badger Trance
mikailborg: I can't even remember what event I was attending, but I must have been taking it seriously. (crusade)
You've probably heard of the "Running of the Bulls". A WoW guild this week did a "running of the beef", where around 100 of them created level 1 Tauren (Minotaur) characters; they then ran them as a herd from the peaceful grasslands of their Mulgore homeland all the way the the forbidding, lava-spewing, Blackrock Mountain (an area where a level-one character has no business being). As anyone who's played the game up to level 45 can confirm, Stranglethorn Vale was the worst bit :)

I'm really into this sort of thing - a bit of business which isn't part of the game, which will net no experience points or loot, and yet was certainly hilarious for the participants. Virtual worlds need more fun like this! There are YouTube videos - search for AIE Bull Run.

Starr and I are a bit socialized out. We really appreciate our friends inviting us places, but we haven't had a quiet evening at home in days - so tonight will be Azeroth and TV. (What with my <4 hours of play time per week, I think I'm safe from WoW addiction.)

Dave and Jodi ([livejournal.com profile] ptownhiker & [livejournal.com profile] fixitup) were kind enough to invite us to see Pirates 3 last night at one of those dinner movie theaters. There were a lot of fun bits in the movie - plenty of times I laughed out loud - but eventually, the movie just didn't make any sense. I'm training myself not to mind movie BS as much as I used to, but I still insist on internally-consistent movie BS. I have the terrible feeling that the writers scripted 3 hours of action and double/ triple/ quadruple/ quintuple/ sextuple/ septuple/ octuple-crosses (I'm stopping before the film did) and then suddenly realized that they were going to have to end the flick at some point.

Can't say it was a wasted evening... it's not like the movie was lousy, and the company was excellent.

On a quick note, they previewed The Golden Compass before Pirates. Now, the books impressed me little, and I wasn't planning on going to see the big-screen version. However, there's some fair acting talent on board, and the visuals in the preview were gorgeous. I may just go for the eye candy.
mikailborg: I can't even remember what event I was attending, but I must have been taking it seriously. (gaming)
Those that play computer games should wander over to http://www.blizzard.com today. Seriously.

It's sort of embarrassing to know that someone's sold me a game before the thing's even finished. But that's the truth, and so it goes. The CGI trailers are AMAZING. I don't know why Blizz is talking about shooting the WoW movie in live action, their CGI people should be winning awards right and left.

If there's anything that company does well, it's detail. The level of polish in their website, trailers, and their actual games are amazing. None of that would help if there was no solid foundation, but that's been taken care of too. Of course, simultaneous Mac releases are also a plus for me :)

"Hell. It's about time."

Ringtones

Feb. 16th, 2007 09:38 am
mikailborg: I can't even remember what event I was attending, but I must have been taking it seriously. (rogue)
I've discovered, to my surprise, that I generally prefer MIDI ringtones to MP3 ringtones. Perhaps it has a little to do with the tiny speaker they're coming from, and in part because a MIDI just sounds more like a phone-ring sound to me.

My current favorites: katamari.mid - DoctorWho2006.mid - dune.mid

I like technology that beeps.
mikailborg: I can't even remember what event I was attending, but I must have been taking it seriously. (mecha)
New phone now. At first, the RAZR wasn't performing any of the tricks I wanted it to, but I fiddled with it a bit, and now GMail works, and I've figured out a way to get my own ringtones onto it without buying ones from Sprint or purchasing a Bluetooth dongle for the Mac. (I might try to get the dongle anyway, since I can then do calendar synchronizing.)

I also found "One More Time", the first cut off Daft Punk's "Interstella 5555 (The 5tory Of The 5ecret 5tar 5ystem)" on YouTube. I'm still deciding whether I like the music (think it's a yes), but the video was throwing me some serious late 80's flashback with its Leiji Matsumoto-y goodness. Gonna have to try to see the whole thing, now.

Speaking of anime, [livejournal.com profile] rattrap gave a good review to Robotech: The Shadow Chronicles, which I had just recently heard about on the RDF Underground podcast. The podcasters agree with him that the character designs for the ladies are a bit mammary-focused, but I guess they were shooting for what they felt was an authentic modern anime look. Still, it's supposed to hold up well, and I'll be adding it to my collection when I can swing the cash, even if (like The Sentinels) it uses Alphas instead of Valkyries.
mikailborg: I can't even remember what event I was attending, but I must have been taking it seriously. (space_tech)
Wil Wheaton is reviewing old ST: TNG episodes for a website known as TV Squad. He's just reviewed Justice, and my trivia sense tingled; Brenda Bakke, the half-naked actress who gleefully welcomes Worf as the "Huge One", also played Nim, the Texas Air Ranger in Gunhed.

This, of course, contributes nothing at all to your day.

Slighlty more interestingly, astronomer Phil Plait has posted that tonight's 9:35 launch of the Space Shuttle will be visible over most of the US' east coast. A link to a similar opportunity from '97 suggests that Norfolk viewers might be able to see the STS reach 12 degrees over the south-southeast horizon, while Roanoke area space buffs will only see the engine glow for 5 degrees (possibly discounting intervening mountains).

(I'll probably forget to go look, though.)
mikailborg: I can't even remember what event I was attending, but I must have been taking it seriously. (menace)
A few people who have seen "Superman Returns" have wondered in my presence about a certain plot point from the movie. I don't want to say too much more about this plot point, for it could be considered a bit of a spoiler, but here is an article by a Famous Science Fiction Writer on the subject.

(The article doesn't help, but is kinda funny anyway.)

EDIT: Okay, two comments here have suggested that it is a BIG spoiler. So, really. Don't click the link unless you have seen the movie or don't care about spoilers.
mikailborg: I can't even remember what event I was attending, but I must have been taking it seriously. (gaming)
What if, in fact, the Matrix really was the "real world" and that the world of Zion and the tunnels was a computer simulation designed by Morpheus and his cronies to produce bands of duped, highly-trained international terrorists?

Ehh, maybe not.

Game designer [livejournal.com profile] robin_d_laws is running a play-by-poll RPG in his journal where the reader is cast as an inmate of a psychiatric ward who's the only person able to fight the demonic "operators" that his "angels" have warned him of. The beauty of his storyline is that, after 30 installments, I'm still not sure if the "operators" are real, or figments of the character's psychosis. I'm not even sure if I'll get to find out. Gripping stuff :)

Dinged lvl 52 with my gnome mage last night. I can finally see the endgame from here. Ironically enough, I've soloed almost the whole time (a little less so recently), and the endgame is all about 5-40 member parties. I'm not really sure I'll be much use, or have much fun in that part; I may just go back to leveling some of my alts, and wait for the expansion. Or I might find out that I have untapped potential as a Raid Master. We'll see.
mikailborg: I can't even remember what event I was attending, but I must have been taking it seriously. (slaine)
Some cool things about Technicon 23:

Giving [livejournal.com profile] rattrap his combined holiday present for the next several years.
Playing the WoW board game with [livejournal.com profile] jsciv, [livejournal.com profile] meiran, and [livejournal.com profile] candidevoltaire; then buying a copy.
A copy of The Heroic Trio from [livejournal.com profile] kittykatya.
Opening the wrong door and accidentally joining this year's Vile Skit.
Being practically the only character in [livejournal.com profile] vileone's LARP that was exactly what he said he was: no more, no less.
Friday dinner seated between Dwight, [livejournal.com profile] raininva, and Christy.
Friday night panels that went Most Excellently. (Some details soon in a filtered post, heh heh.)
A Vile Script that forced me to wrestle with [livejournal.com profile] rainbowsaber. (Oh, shucks.)
Helping [livejournal.com profile] southernsinger perform "The Dragon & The Lady" for Holly Lisle.
Late Saturday dinner and great conversation with [livejournal.com profile] meiran.
Thanks to [livejournal.com profile] trenn, chown -R us:us yourbase.
Frequent backrubby morale- and energy-boosts from [livejournal.com profile] shrewlet.
Two boxes full of new reading material from the Auction.
Cool artwork from [livejournal.com profile] kittenchan and [livejournal.com profile] ranchonmars.
It's my 20th Technicon.

-----

Some less-cool things about Technicon 23:

It's my 20th Technicon.
Not enough time to be in Whose Con Is It?
Long drives from and to Norfolk.
Not enough quality time with many friends.
My lousy Simon Cowell imitation.
A body that gave out too early on Saturday night. (For once, stomach issues rather than exhaustion.)
Our air mattress developing a hole.
Not enough time for after-con dinner in Blacksburg. (But a good one with Bert & Meche in Salem.)

-----

I'd call TCon 23 a success, for my part. Well done, [livejournal.com profile] nius, and thanks for the good weekend!
mikailborg: I can't even remember what event I was attending, but I must have been taking it seriously. (orbiting)
It has always been a good thing for my spare time that World of Warcraft won't install on my laptop. (Actually, I did make it install one time, but only got one video frame every 4 seconds or so, so off it went again.) Unfortunately, Monday night a friend's casual reference reminded me that the laptop's specs were well up to another piece of software, and last night, I put Starcraft on it. Maybe now I can finish the darn Terran campaign and play the other two-thirds of the game.

Blizzard does not own me. But I think it's trying to acquire controlling interest.

The conspiracy theorist in me wonders if Alan Moore and the Wachowskis have manufactured this little tiff they are having just to make sure V for Vendetta retains a brighter blip on the geek radar. As someone recently pointed out, any author who has sold thousands of copies of professional fanfic (I refer to League of Extraordinary Gentlemen) doesn't have much of a leg to stand on when bitching about other creative folks modifying their characters and storylines.

You know, a book is not a movie is not a comic is not a TV show. They all have different rules and must make adaptations if they are to flourish in a changed environment. "Spamalot" is hardly a scene-for-scene copy of Monty Python and the Holy Grail, for example. If SciFi ever makes that rumored miniseries of "Ringworld", they'll have to change quite a bit to keep a good novel from being very dull television. (Knowing SciFi, they probably won't - they'll follow the advice of some uber-fan who wants a line-by-line copy.) I wish fans were better at judging material on its own merits, instead of what they wanted the material to be. (I also wish more fans understood the difference between "This is poor quality" and "I personally don't like this much.")

Speaking of which, some website recently applauded the Enterprise-D as one of the most iconic spaceships in visual science fiction, making the note that "not a lot of thought was put into the original television Enterprise." I hope the ghost of Matt Jeffries hunts this person down and explains a thing or three to him.

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